Ashes And Dust
by DarylDixon'sLover
Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again.
1. Reunion

**AUTHORS NOTE: I am deeply excited to be back and to write again but understand the reluctunce of the community to trust me. More details can be found on my profile but I hope they can accept my deepest apologies and that I can turn my writing and reputation around but becoming productive.**

Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again but will he be able to rise Melanie from the ashes with the help of a former enemy? – Co – Written with NadWri. Daryl/OC, Merle/ Beth, Carol/ Hershel, Rick/Rowan, Phillip/Andrea.

_Daryl Dixon – Norman Reedus._

_Melanie Blake Greene – Susan Coffey._

_Merle Dixon - Michael Rooker._

_Beth Greene – Emily Kinney._

_Connor Grey - Sean Patrick Flanery._

_Guy Thomson – Orlando Bloom_

_Rick Grimes – Andrew Lincoln._

_Rowan Collins – Zoey Deschannel_

_Carl Grimes – Chandler Riggs._

_Judith Anne Grimes – Mackenzie Fry._

_Carol Peletier – Melissa McBride._

_Sophia Peletier – Madison Lintz._

_Andrea Carter – Laurie Holden._

_Shane Walsh – Jon Bernthal._

_Phillip Blake – David Morrissey._

_Dale Horvath - Jeffrey DeMunn_

_Michonne – Danai Gurira._

_T- Dog – IronE Singleton_

_Beth Greene – Emily Kinney._

_Hershel Greene - Scott Wilson._

_Glenn Rhee - Steven Yeun._

_Maggie Greene – Lauren Cohan._

_Morgan Jones - Lennie James_

_Duane Jones - Adrian Kali Turner_

Ashes And Dust

Chapter 1

* * *

It had been three months since the Governor had attacked the prison and things were strained at best. Merle kept to himself aside from Beth and Carol who would talk to him and Daryl would always be talking to him or Rick.

Andrea was alive and stayed with them at the prison.

Andrea was alive and stayed with them at the prison, trying to find a place back in the group after being with the people at Woodbury. Nobody knew if being at the prison was still safe even after being untouched by the Governor...

Daryl kept on thinking of the Governor reminded him of someone, of her, those grey eyes looked exactly like hers.

"Thinking about Melanie?" Merle asked already knowing the answer.

Daryl nodded slowly trying hard to keep his memory of her fresh in his mind. He didn't wan to forget her but at the same time it seemed almost right because of everything that had happened. The world being in shambles and all the blood that had been spilled because of his hands alone. Daryl ran his hands over is crossbow and tried to let his thoughts stray from Melanie.

"It's like she's just a ghost but I know better. She was real." Daryl muttered to Merle. His brother knew him better than any of them in the group despite their almost family like atmosphere. Merle was a son of a bitch at times but deep down he did love his brother and didn't want him making a fuss especially over some girl. He had no big problem with Melanie but he wasn't thrilled Daryl may be losing his mind because of the girl.

"Daryl." Merle said in a tone that snapped Daryl out of his dream like state. He shook his head and his eyes snapped up to meet his older brothers. There was a silent conversation that was between them.

"The Governor reminded me of her for some, fucked up reason." He told Merle who looked surprised as Maggie ran towards them.

"There's a woman being chased by walkers!"

_Melanie._ Daryl thought wildly.

* * *

Melanie was running, her boot clad feet bouncing on the hard concrete as she tried to outrun the walkers that were behind her.

"Shit." She said angry.

Melanie ran and hit he ground, catching herself on her hands. She looked behind her to see more walkers coming up quickly on her trail. She got up and tried to shake it off and moved as quick as her feet would allow her.

One walker had caught up to her, she could hear its moaning and the stench of the rotting flesh had made her almost wan to puke. Her face turned pale when she realized it had backed her up against one of he walls of the building. If there ever was a time to pray for a miracle it was now.

"JC. This ones up to you." She mumbled and pulled a blade that she had kept in her boot. It wasn't her blade but it belonged to someone she held close to her and she knew she had to do anything she could.

She heard boots against the ground and her eyes snapped to see others, not walkers but actual people, running towards her. She ducked when the walker swung its arms at her trying to grab on.

She shoved her knife into the walker's skull as it had its back turned to them and she dusted herself off and grabbed her duffle bag just as something was smashed on the back of her head and she crumpled to the floor as darkness took over.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Daryl yelled at Michonne's older brother, Drake as he and Michonne started to look through her bags.

Daryl was ready to kill him a this point and before he never really cared for him but now it was official that he could care less for him. He lunged at him but Michonne was quick and blocked Daryl from hitting Drake. She knew Daryl wouldn't touch her since he respected her so much and didn't hit women. He had never touched a woman he wrong way since she had been with the group.

"Daryl!" her heard Merle yell and he turned around and Merle looked down to see Melanie's body lying on the ground behind them.

"We'll I'll be damned." Merle whispered more to himself than anything and they all looked over at the oncoming walkers. They would need to get her body in to the prison where the gate would shut at least.

Daryl picked up Melanie gently as he hurried to the gates with Merle right behind him as they headed to where the prison was.

"MAGGIE OPEN THE GATES, IT'S MELANIE!" Daryl yelled.

Maggie rushed towards the gate when she heard Daryl screaming for her. She saw her cousins body in his arms and ripped open the gate to let everyone in. She wasn't prepared for any of this especially to see a small group of walkers coming this way. The small group of her friends ran like a bat shot out of hell towards he prison and she slammed it shut.

Merle stayed with her and took care of some of them. He wanted to go see Melanie but keeping her safe was important to his brother which meant it was important to him. He took his fist, the one with the razor on it and pushed it through a couple of walkers' heads. Maggie had grabbed a crowbar that was lying around and killed off more.

"Can't believe ya hit her." Daryl growled and placed Melanie's body on one of the bunks inside of a cell.

"Oh please, do shut up." She snapped as she and Drake started to look through her bags, photo albums came tumbling out along with clothes.

"You shouldn't be messing with her shit." Daryl said firmly and ripped one of the photo albums from them that they had picked up. Merle and Maggie finally came in to see Daryl trying to get Melanie's stuff back. Maggie wasn't too happy that her cousin's things were being messed with and Merle was going to support whatever his brother said.

They walked over towards the group and Merle's gruff voice broke them apart.

"What the hell is goin' on here?" He asked them in a low voice/

"Those two are looking through Mel's stuff." Maggie said as the others came in.

"Melanie?"

Hershel came in with his crutches and Beth followed behind him with baby Judith in her arms. Rick was behind Beth looking over her at the group. They didn't look to pleased at what was happening.

"She's here?" Beth asked excitedly and Maggie nodded before sending a glare towards Michonne and Drake. She wanted them out of her cousins things and Rick was the leader her, they listened to him so maybe he could talk some sort of sense into them. She looked and saw Daryl leaning over Melanie's body trying to see how her head was.

"Her head's alright, just knocked out." Daryl said softly.

"Who is she?" Rick asked Daryl.

"My niece..." Hershel quickly spoke up and limped over towards the cell that held Melanie in it. He was cautious of what he told to everyone and he trusted Rick and his group but not the newer people who had been added even though they had proved themselves useful.

"She's also my best friend." Beth piped up and rocked Judith. "I bet she'll just love you little sweetie." Beth mumbled and kissed Judith on the head and looked over at her cousin then at Michonne and Drake.

"Why do you still have my cousin's things" She asked confused.

"To see if there's anything useful." Drake said as if Beth was stupid.

Merle glared at him.

"You've got to be shitting me." Michonne said disgusted as she held a photo.

"What is it?" Rick asked concerned and stepped forward from the rest of the group to go towards Michonne and Drake.

"It's Melanie and the Governor." Michonne spat out and shoved the picture into Rick's hand as if it was a bomb in her hands waiting to go off.

Daryl looked at the photo and his stomach curled inside, she was a baby with strands of red hair.

"She's a baby." He said protectively.

"Governor was a baby too at one point. Now look where he is." Dark retorted but Hershel stepped up quickly and snatched the picture from Rick.

"That's my niece. She's not anything like him and that is that." Hershel said and put the picture in his pocket to keep it from them. He would give the picture back to her when she woke up.

"We can't keep her here Rick." Michonne said quickly.

Rick narrowed his eyes at her, "Why?"

"For all we know she's with that bastard and if he attacks us again she could be here as a spy. We all know that asshole is crazy. He probably is crazy enough o send his daughter on a suicide mission" Michonne said and glared at the girl. If it was her way the girl would have been fed to walkers by now. They didn't know much about her and now she could still be involved with the Governor.

"She's Hershel's niece though. She's the same as Maggie or Beth. I doubt she would hurt them or any of us." Rick said and Maggie nodded in agreement.

"She wouldn't ever betray us or be in alliance with him. If you knew her like how we do. You would understand that." Maggie spoke up. Daryl hadn't left her side and was around her like an attack dog waiting for someone to try anything stupid. To say he was very fond of her would be an understatement.

"She doesn't even know him, her mother if ya could call her that only said what a bastard he was when he beat the shit outta of her." He said firmly.

"When she wakes up we'll question her." Michonne stated coldly and Andrea felt disgusted at her former friend's behaviour.

"Phillip mentioned her to me."

Hershel nodded and limped towards Maggie and pulled her over to his cell. He needed to tell her to keep an eye out for her cousin. Melanie was strong and a stubborn girl but Michonne could be brutal when she wanted too.

"Sweetie. We need to tread lightly around them. I don't know if they'll question her like how Shane questioned Randall or actually have some humanity left in them" Hershel whispered and Maggie cupped her mouth thinking about the horror stories she had heard from Carol about when the boy was at the farm. Glenn also told her about how ruthless Daryl had been.

"You're completely right daddy." She agreed and she left him to go to her cell that she shared with Glenn.


	2. Fade Away

Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again but will he be able to rise Melanie from the ashes with the help of a former enemy? – Co – Written with NadWri. Daryl/OC, Merle/Beth, Carol/Hershel, Rick/Rowan, Phillip/Andrea.

Warning! This chapter has rape in this chapter, if you want to skip it, go to the lower half.

Ashes And Dust

Chapter 2

* * *

Melanie had woken up with a painful headache from hell as she took in her surroundings as she slowly got up and looked around.

She was in a cell on a bottom bunk and as she got up from the bunk, she noticed that someone had looked through her things and the photo of her father and she was gone.

Someone had taken it.

She looked around to see if her broadsword was in the cell and realised with a gut wrenching feeling that was gone too.

She was in a prison, which was pretty much was obvious by the bars as she walked over to where the door was and peered around to see two people coming towards her cell.

Michonne and Drake walked with purpose towards her cell not missing a beat and trying to remain as quiet as possible. They didn't want to alert the others of what they were about to do. Michonne and Drake put on friendly faces to get her to trust them so they could take her far away to somewhere inside of the prison. They had time on their hands to explore and found the perfect spot where no one would hear her screams.

Drake was really excited because of Michonne's plan. He was going to be the one who got the most out of this plan.

"Hey there." Michonne said walking over to Melanie with a sly smile.

Melanie stared at them warily, "What the hell do you want?" She asked warily reaching for her scythe only to realise it wasn't there neither was her bladed fan.

"We're going to have some fun." Drake said eerily.

Melanie quickly backed up into her cell only to be grabbed by both Drake and Michonne. Michonne grabbed her katana and quickly held it up to her throat.

"Say a word and I'll cut your head off. We want silence." she hissed in Melanie's ear. They both escorted her through the hallways of the prison which she wasn't familiar with. She didn't even know where she was and if she had only yelled a moment before then they would have been found but she kept her mouth shut as they dragged her through the tunnels.

"What do you want?" Melanie spit out when Michonne and Drake threw her to the ground in a cell far from the rest of the others. Michonne was the first to step forward looming over her.

"You're going to pay for what your father did to us bitch." She sneered and slashed at her stomach viciously.

Melanie gritted her teeth.

Michonne left open wounds on her stomach and legs that would leave scars and mar her young body. Michonne took pride her in work and grabbed Melanie by her hair and threw her against the wall and ran her katana over her back letting blood trickle from the wound.

Melanie gasped in pain but didn't let out another sound. She tried to let her thoughts wander to other places, anywhere but here, so she could bare the pain that was being inflicted. Michonne wasn't done with her blood lust though and decided she needed something to scar her so permanent that everyone would know she was the Governors daughter.

She grinned and walked towards Melanie. The predator stalking the prey, waiting to strike one final blow.

She grabbed Melanie by the hair and shoved her onto her stomach as Michonne slowly began to carve the word Blake onto the middle of her as Melanie tried no to cry out.

"Scream bitch, c'mon scream for that fucking redneck Dixon." She snarled as she slashed more and more at Melanie's back.

"What did I ever do to you?" Melanie choked out.

"Oh you know what you and your sick ass father did!" Michonne yelled at her and stepped back to assess her handy work on her back. Michonne sneered at her and let Drake walk over and carved a D into her thigh.

"For your precious Dixon." He smirked as the blood seeped out of her wound. It would scar over leaving a white D on her thigh. Melanie cried finally when she realized why Drake was here after he touched her thigh and inner thigh gently.

"I don't even know who my father is, let alone what he did!" She screamed as she kicked Drake away in the face stunning him as she heard his nose break.

She crawled up in agony as she began to run down the dark hallway, her body slick with blood and sweat as she ran to where the door was.

A pair of strong hands grabbed her by her right ankle.

A walker had its grip on her ankle and she screamed unfortunately letting them know where she was. Drake found her and killed the walker only to grab her and throw her in the nearest cell on the ground. She kicked and screamed and pleaded for him to get off of her but she felt his hands all over her body like fire. She pushed and screamed trying to kick him but he moved his way between her legs tearing off her shorts and panties.

Melanie cried when she felt him over her and starts to unbuckle his jeans. She freaked and cried and tried to turn around but that spurred him on more. He pulled himself out of his jeans and shoved her to the ground holding her neck and pressing her face into the hard concrete. Michonne was behind him laughing at the struggling girl. She had no remorse for what was about to happen.

Drake pressed against Melanie and violated her in a way no one should ever be violated. She cried and screamed as loud as she could and prayed for help. He pressed inside of her and shoved himself violently into her all the way. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she wailed in agony. He didn't let up as he thrust his hips against her every few minutes.

He moaned above her and pumped himself violently inside of her while she cried out praying it would be over.

"Come on cry for your Dixon now!" he commanded and held a blade against her back, near her neck

"No, no, no." She screamed but suddenly felt an agonising pain when he thrusted harder into her as she cried in pain.

"Goodbye whore." He said as he came inside her and grabbed at her panties as he wiped his cock and Melanie could barely move as he looked at Michonne.

"What do we do now?"

"Leave the bitch for the walkers." Michonne said and walked away from the girl and walked away. Drake got up and followed her leaving Melanie in a pool of her own blood. She curled up after slamming the cell door shut in case any walkers were around. She needed to get medical help soon for everything. She knew it would scar like they wanted.

She sniffled and curled up wrapping her arms around her legs and stayed in the corner of the room and prayed someone would find her soon. She didn't know how long she would be able to survive in this state.

* * *

Daryl had been on watch for an hour when he saw Glenn walking towards him as he sat down next to him and looked at him.

"What's Melanie like?"

"Melanie? Why do ya wanna know what she's like?" Daryl asked. He didn't like it when people asked about her but that was because when they did he never knew how to explain her. She was just Melanie to him.

"Well she's Maggie's cousin ..." he trailed off.

"She's like the sun, so warm and sweet to everyone she meets. Was never anything like her parents for sure and you would've thought they would make her cold but nah she was like the sunlight" Daryl mumbled the last part more to himself. She definitely was his sunlight. She brought him out of a lot of dark times and kept him going.

Glenn glanced at him with a small smile, "You really care about her, don't you?" He asked quietly as they watched the prison yard.

"She's my best friend and she means a lot to me." He said softly.

"Were you two lovers?" Glenn asked.

Daryl thought about all the nights he and Melanie would share before the world had gone to hell. "Yeah we were."

"That's sort of unexpected no offense." Glenn said amused.

"None taken. Half the time I don't know why she bothered." Daryl sighed and started to grease up his crossbow to keep it in shape enough to kill walkers. His thoughts drifted to Melanie and their nights they shared together. Silly teenagers that were going against everything their parents said to try to be together and remain friends.

Daryl chuckled at his thoughts and Glenn had never seen him happier and it surprised him.

"I'm gonna see how she is." He said as Glenn got up and followed him as they headed to where Melanie's cell was and stopped in horror.

Blood was spayed everywhere in the cell, on the walls, on the floor and there were drag marks on the floor meaning that Melanie had been dragged away.

"MELANIE!" Daryl yelled as he ran down the corridor.

Daryl picked up his crossbow and aimed it at the walkers while the others grabbed their weapons. They weren't going to be shooting anything unless it came to that. They didn't want anymore walkers to be alerted to anything.

Rick, Maggie, Daryl, and Merle all were shoulder to shoulder along with Michonne and Drake while they slowly walked towards the walkers taking them down in their paths. They wanted to keep them far away from everyone else especially Carl and Beth. They were still so young. Rick stepped forward and took out more while Daryl took his hunting knife out since he didn't want to waste any bolts and shoved it through a walker's skull, twisted his knife and pulled it out letting it drop to his feet.

Merle was holding his own along with Maggie and then Glenn who was trying to divert him.

The only thing that nagged the back of Daryl's head was if Melanie had survived this group of walkers.

He saw the blood led to the tombs and followed it with the others right behind him as he ran down the hallway praying Melanie was safe.

* * *

Melanie felt cold and numb as she lay numbly in the cell as she slowly felt her body shut down as she shivered violently.

Daryl's face haunted her mind.

She thought of everything they had ever done together and her family that she had with her uncle and cousins. She thought about her childhood and the abuse given o her and the saving grace that was her childhood friend.

She sighed and tried to sit up to just anything just to prove that she wasn't broken but she slid down to the ground in her own blood. She wept for the situation for everyone and even for her attackers. Whatever her father did to them must have been horrible for them to leave her like this.

She heard moans from walkers as they smelled her blood and then boots against the concrete.

She felt her eyes close as she dreamed of Daryl, Merle and her cousins as she faded away.

"Daryl."

Then silence except the groans of the walkers walking past the young woman with her right hand sticking out of the cell door.

* * *

The night drew on silently. Daryl searched with Maggie and Glenn for Melanie but stopped when the blood trail had stopped. There wasn't any other trace of her being around which just upset them all.

Daryl slammed his forearm against the prison wall and kicked one of the walker's faces in while Maggie cried silently in Glenn's arms. She didn't want to think of what her cousin could be going through.

"She's here, I know she is." Daryl said knowing that Melanie was a fighter as they continued on and froze when they saw a pale hand between the cell doors.

"OH MY GOD!" Maggie screamed horrified.

Daryl's head snapped up towards the hand and he quickly ran over to see a naked, marred Melanie lying on the cold ground. His face scrunched up in disgust because he knew she couldn't have done this to herself and it must have been someone else. He pushed her hand through the cell and quickly opened it up and bent over her frail body.

"Mel?" he whispered.

Melanie didn't answer him, her face was smeared in blood and tears as Daryl looked at her slashed body and felt something in him break as he saw the blood between her legs.

He would kill them all.

He went over to pick her up and she cried out in pain, screaming.

"NO, NO, PLEASE NO!"


	3. Why Me

Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again but will he be able to raise Melanie from the ashes with the help of a former enemy? – Co – Written with HersDixon. Daryl/OC, Merle/Beth, Carol/Hershel, Rick/Rowan, Phillip/Andrea, .

Ashes And Dust

Chapter 3

* * *

He quickly dropped his hands and shushed her gently.

"It's just me Mel." He said quietly and stroked her hair when she finally returned to be fully aware of her surroundings and saw Daryl. It made her weep harder to know he's seeing her like this. She tries to turn over to hide herself from him. He quickly pulls his shirt off to cover her with. Ever so gently he put his hands under her and scooped her up keeping her close to his chest.

He had never seen her so lifeless and broken like this. For now he would be calm until he saw them and then there would be no stopping him from tearing their heads off and killing them in the most brutal and savage way possible.

He turned to look at Glenn and Maggie, "I need ya two to tell Hershel and Carol what happened and I'll take her to my cell." He said as they hurried off with him carrying Melanie gently to their cell.

He placed her gently on the bed and brushed his fingers through her hair.

He kissed her forehead and sat down on the ground near the bunk just to keep an eye on her. He wasn't going to let her out of his sight. Merle came over to see how his brother was doing and when he saw Melanie he knew what had happened. She was curled up sniffling on the cot.

"Oh Jesus, fuckin' Christ." He said horrified as Hershel came in and took one look at his niece and breathed in deeply.

"She needs to be in the infirmary."

"No." Melanie said weakly. She didn't want to move out of the bed. She was humiliated enough as it was. She didn't want anything else. She groaned in pain and her hand flew to her head as it rested against the pillow.

"Please no." she begged.

"Melly, you need those wounds to be cleaned sweetie." Hershel said as Melanie started to cry out in pain.

"It hurts." She cried out as she crumpled in pain, Daryl running over and trying to help her as she started to clutch her stomach.

"Let us please help you. Just the women." Hershel said softly and motioned for Beth and Maggie to come forward. Daryl got up and ushered everyone outside away from Melanie. Everyone moved away except Carol who came into the room with the girls with some medical supplies. Even Hershel left the room and let the girls work on Melanie's to clean up some of her cuts. They were going to have to stitch some of her back up but that could wait until they could get her some medication.

Daryl held her hand the entire time. It was odd to Carol to see a man who was willing to kill anyone who got in his path to be sweet and tender towards this young woman.

Melanie had passed out from the pain, her chest was slashed to pieces and there were bite marks on her nipples along with the initials D on her left thigh. Her nails were bloody as well along with her neck and stomach having stab marks along with old scars.

"Who the hell did this to her?" Beth asked horrified.

"I have a feeling I know" Maggie said horrified.

"Who?" Daryl had his own idea of who it could have been and he grew red with anger thinking about the possibilities.

"Drake and Michonne." She said looking at the brand on Melanie's thigh; there were so many slashes and cuts it was like being in a horror film.

"I'LL KILL THEM!"

"This initial is either for Drake or you." Maggie pointed to it and washed it off. Daryl was pacing back and forth though not sure if he should kill them now or later, how to make them suffer like how Melanie had suffered.

"Oh fuck it." Daryl growled and threw open the door. He needed some time to think about how to do this.

Merle watched him go, "I'll talk to him." He told Rick and followed him when Hershel spoke.

"Phillip's going to lose it when he finds out."

"If Phillip ever does find out." Rick said and shook his head running his hands through his hair. He didn't need another war happening because of this even though he wanted to deal with it on his own. Adding Phillip into the mix would just add to everyone fighting or being slaughtered like animals.

"He will. That man always knows." Hershel said quietly thinking of his brother in law.

Andrea looked at Rick "What do we do if he comes here? He's going to be pissed knowing that Michonne and Drake attacked Melanie." She said as Dale hurried over.

"What's going on?"

"Michonne and Drake attacked Melanie and Daryl's about to rip someone's head off." Rick said and paced around the room. They hadn't seen Michonne or Drake around since the whole attack.

"Oh that poor girl." Dale said and Andrea nodded. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to have that happen to her especially now.

"Will she be ok?" Andrea asked softly and Hershel looked upset.

"There's internal bleeding and without the proper equipment, I can't help her." He said frustrated as Merle brightened.

"Milton can help."

Andrea was happy to hear that Milton was alive. She had been fond of him when she knew him. When she knew the Governor, Milton had been so kind and a sort of companionship had formed.

"Maybe we need to take a visit to go get him?" Andrea asked softly.

"I'll go with ya." Merle said getting up as they saw Melanie trying to get up, her body was shaking with exhaustion and fright.

"Why do you all hate me? I never asked to be his daughter." She sobbed agonised.

Daryl felt something in him break.

He hit the wall and walked over towards Melanie but stood right outside of the cell. He didn't know how to get it through to her he didn't care. He mattered right? Not what they thought.

"I don't hate you. Merle doesn't hate you and your family doesn't hate you." He told her. His voice shook but he tried to have some conviction in his words. He needed her to realize that the people who mattered to her or should matter to her didn't blame her for this.

She nodded and crumpled onto the bed, her body shaking with silent sobs as everyone looked on sorrowfully.

"Christ, I feel bad for her." Tyresse said upset.

Daryl pulled her into him as Melanie cried into his shirt, her tears soaking his shirt and breaking his heart at the pain she was in.

"What did he do to make them hate me?"

"He did a lot sweetheart. Everyone has their own story. It's not my place to tell." Daryl said quietly to her and held her close to him and rocked her gently. He would never have done it with anybody else but with her it was different.

"I don't want them to hate me." she sobbed into his shirt.

"Hey, none of them hate ya. Rick, Merle, Maggie, Beth, Hershel and the others don't hate yer woman, they care about you." He said kissing her forehead tenderly.

"It hurts so much, he... He told me I was his whore, that no one would want me and that he'd make my life a living hell."

Daryl was getting angrier by the second hearing her tell him that and he just pulled her tight against him and tried to keep his thoughts from roaming to kill the bastard. He couldn't scare her like that but he would kill him with his bare hands.

"He will never touch you ever again."

She breathed in heavily, her chest heaving in pain as she fell asleep with Daryl watching over her as he wrapped the blankets around her.

"How do you two know each other?" Carol asked softly.

Melanie laughed slightly at the thought of how they knew each other. It was a rather long story but it was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She sighed against Daryl's chest and he looked down at her lovingly.

"Childhood friends." Daryl told Carol.

"More like sweethearts." Melanie interrupted him.

Carol smiled at them both with a warm smile on her soft face, "You mean childhood sweethearts." She said finding it lovely that Daryl had found someone.

"Yeah like that." Daryl said softly as Melanie fell asleep.

Beth sat down next to Melanie looking upset, "She'll need you to get through this." She told him softly as she started to clean the cuts on Melanie's shoulders.

"I'm with her all the way." Daryl said as he smoothed her fringe away, her face was smeared in blood and he saw the necklace that she wore was covered in blood and so were the bracelets on her right wrist.

Maggie along with Carol gently pulled her up and saw that Michonne and Drake had written something on her back in blood.

I AM THE GOVERNOR'S DAUGHTER

"She doesn't even know him." Beth protested distressed.

"It doesn't matter to them; Michonne and Drake hate the Governor so they hate Melanie as well for what the Governor did." Merle said sadly.

"Is she gonna be ok?" Daryl asked Hershel quietly.

Hershel looked sad, "In time she will but I'm worried about her mental state." He said sadly.

Daryl wordlessly sat by Melanie and held her in his arms tightly as he breathed in her wildflower and roses scent.

"I'll get ya through this; I promise all of us will." He said softly kissing her right cheek.

"She's tough," Beth said softly. "It'll just take her time to get through this."

"I'll kill that bastard." He growled as Merle and Andrea came in.

"We're gonna leave now, hopefully the Governor won't kill us." He said dryly.

"You sure you don't need anyone else to come with you?" Rick asked as he looked at them concerned.

Andrea shook her head. "It's probably better with just the two of us, he knows us best."

"Yeah, although I'm hoping to Christ he aint gonna kill us when we tell him that his daughter got raped and tortured." Merle said as they headed outside to the car and got in.

"Daddy, did you know the Governor was Mel's dad?" Maggie asked.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you ever tell us?" Maggie asked confused as she sat down beside Hershel.

Hershel let out a long sigh. "Before we even knew about Woodbury, I knew Phillip Blake was her father. So when we ran across him, I was going to say something," he said quietly. "But once he started causing trouble for us, I didn't think it was a good idea. You know, Rick and the others might not have wanted anything to do with Melanie, and I didn't want her to be out there on her own. So I kept it to myself."

"We would have understood Hershel." Rick said quietly.

"I just wanted to protect her, my sister Eve wasn't a very good mother to her." He said sadly.

"She was a bitch." Daryl said disgusted.

Hershel gave the young man a small smile. Daryl knew all too well what Melanie's mother had been like, because most of the times after a particularly bad day, it had been Daryl she would have turned to, instead of the rest of her family.

"Do you think Milton's gonna be able to help her?" Maggie asked softly as she watched her cousin suffer.

"I'm sure he will." Hershel assured her.

* * *

The drive to Woodbury was tense when Merle spoke.

"Did ya know Melanie was his daughter?"

"I had heard Phillip mentioning another daughter a few times," Andrea said quietly, as they drove down the road that still haunted her, especially when she had made her escape from Woodbury. "But I didn't really put the pieces together to work out that it was Mel. The Governor's going to be furious when he finds out what Drake and Michonne did to her."

Merle nodded. "I don't know who's going to kill them first, him or my brother."

"Probably both." She said quietly as they pulled up underneath a tree and headed to the wall where they saw Martinez and another man on watch.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked stunned.

"We need to talk to Milton and the Governor."

"You think that's a good idea?" Martinez asked, knowing that the Governor probably wouldn't be best pleased to the see two people who had escaped from Woodbury.

"Look, it's about his daughter," Andrea said quietly, hoping she could convince him.

"Penny?"

Andrea shook her head. "No... His other daughter."

Martinez sighed quietly, "Alright follow me." He told them and they both followed him to Phillip's house where they saw the lights were on.

"Let's hope he aint gonna kill us." Merle said quietly.

"I don't think we need to worry about ourselves right now," Andrea said as Martinez knocked on the front door.

The door opened to see Milton looking surprised to see them but pleased.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked as he let them in and showed them into the kitchen where they sat down.

"We need yer help Milton." Andrea said softly.

"With what?" Milton asked in confusion. He didn't think the two of them would ever venture back to Woodbury, especially after they had been lucky enough to escape the first time. "It must have been something pretty big for you two to attempt coming back here," he said with a small chuckle, but the smile died from his lips when he seen their serious expressions.

"It's Melanie, Phillip's daughter," Andrea said quietly, wondering whether the Governor was in the house, and therefore in earshot. It would have been better to talk to him face to face, than for him to overhear this. "You know the one he didn't talk about very much? She was... raped, and seriously injured. She needs your help."

Milton froze "She's been what?" He asked stunned as the kitchen door was slammed open and they saw a man looking strikingly similar to Phillip.

"Who the hell are you?" He asked them rudely.

"My name is Andrea," she said, standing up quickly and backing away a couple of steps. "I'm um... Phillip's old friend," she said nervously, only wanting to get the help that they had come for and then get the hell out of here. "Look, we're not here to cause any trouble. We just need to get some help for Phillip's daughter."

"My niece?" the man asked in shock as he stared at the two newcomers.

"Yer Phillip's brother?" Merle asked, and suddenly he realized that's why the two looked so identical.

"Yeah so?" He asked coldly as Phillip came in looking annoyed and froze when he saw Merle and Andrea in front of him.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING HERE?!" He snarled.

"It's about your daughter, Melanie."

Phillip used all his restraint not to snap and kill the two people who had betrayed him and his town right there and then. "What about my daughter?" he asked quietly. He may not have been the best damn father in the world, hell, he wasn't even close, but if she was in trouble then he would try and help. Her mother and he hadn't gotten on, and he had barely ever seen Melanie, but deep down, she meant just about as much to him as Penny did.

"She's been hurt," Merle said as he glared at the Governor. "An' she was raped. By Michonne and Drake," he said coldly, waiting for the Governor to go into a fit of rage any second now.

"YOU WHAT!" He roared at them and Andrea wondered if Michonne was going to survive after Phillip had finished with her.

"Weren't you supposed to be her friend, you and your brother?" He snapped at Merle.

Merle felt a feeling of guilt, they probably should have been looking after her, but he didn't think that they had to worry about anyone within the prison group. He thought that everyone could have been trusted, and that Melanie was safe enough to be left alone in her cell. "We didn't know what those two were going to do to her," Merle growled. "And if ya hadn't tortured them in the first place, they might not have hated yer daughter!"

"This isn't the time for fighting, you two. Get it together!" Andrea snapped worried how Mel was doing back at the prison. "She had internal bleeding, and she's very ill. We need Milton's help now!"

Phillip gritted his teeth together as he looked between them all. "Milton can go. But I want to come with you."

"Fine, but don't start pissing off anyone." Merle told him as they headed to the car when Brian spoke to Phillip.

"Thought your daughter was dead?"

Phillip paused for a moment, much to Merle and Andrea's annoyance, who wanted to get back with Milton and see how Mel was doing. "My youngest daughter... Penny, she was attacked by a gang," he explained. "She was killed by Michonne. But I have another daughter, Melanie. I never got to see her very often, she probably doesn't even know who I am," he added as he looked at Andrea. "Right?"

Andrea nodded her head. "No, she doesn't. And she doesn't know what you did to make her deserve what happened to her," she added coldly as they got into the car, with Merle in the drivers side, ready to speed back to the prison.

"Why did you do that to Glenn and Maggie?" Milton asked quietly as they drove to the prison.

"It wasn't me; it was my older brother Brian who did it."

Merle scoffed, unable to believe that this man wasn't the same man who had tortured people, and raised an army to try and kill his group, his friends. "Like we're supposed to believe that."

The Governor shrugged. "Believe what you want. It's not going to make any difference to me. I was only trying to keep my Penny safe," he said sadly.

"Lot of good that did yer." Merle said dryly.

"Did you care about Melanie?" Andrea asked cautiously.

"I never got a chance to get to know her, to care for her," Phillip admitted quietly, thinking back to the fiery relationship that he had with her mother, and how he had missed Melanie growing up. That was partly why he had protected Penny so fiercely, wanting to make up for what he had missed with his older daughter. "I don't imagine she wants to know me now, anyway."

Andrea sighed quietly. "Maybe if things with Woodbury hadn't happened the way that they did, things could have worked out alright for you."

"Maybe if Michonne hadn't nosed about, yes things could have gone different." He said flatly and they continued to drive.

* * *

Daryl hadn't left Melanie's side all morning, she was in the infirmary now and had an IV hooked in her right arm and her face was pale.

Beth watched the two of them with a small smile. "She used to talk about you all the time, y'know," she said quietly. "When she would come over and visit Maggie and I."

Daryl was still upset and couldn't manage much more than a forced smile.

Carol handed him a cup of coffee as she sat down at Melanie's bedside, and made sure that she was comfortable enough, or at least as comfortable she could get with the pain that she was in. "How did the two of you meet?" Carol asked Daryl to see if she could get him to talk, and maybe get his mind on happier memories.

"We met in the fields one day I was sixteen and she was fourteen. She found me bleeding from a beating my old man had given me and stitched me up when one of her mom's boyfriend's came onto her and I told him to fuck off." He said smiling faintly.

"That's sweet." Carol said softly.

"We started hanging out and became good friends over time." He said as Melanie stilled and stopped breathing.

Beth watched the two of them with a small smile. "She used to talk about you all the time, y'know," she said quietly. "When she would come over and visit Maggie and me."

Daryl was still upset and couldn't manage much more than a forced smile.

Carol handed him a cup of coffee as she sat down at Melanie's bedside, and made sure that she was comfortable enough, or at least as comfortable she could get with the pain that she was in. "How did the two of you meet?" Carol asked Daryl to see if she could get him to talk, and maybe get his mind on happier memories.

"We met in the fields one day I was sixteen and she was fourteen. She found me bleeding from a beating my old man had given me and stitched me up when one of her mom's boyfriend's came onto her and I told him to fuck off." He said smiling faintly.

"That's sweet." Carol said softly.

"We started hanging out and became good friends over time." He said as Melanie stilled and stopped breathing.

"Mel?" Daryl asked alarmed as he dropped the coffee cup to the floor and heard it smash, as he checked Melanie for a pulse. "Mel? Stay with me! Carol, what's happening?" Daryl looked at the older woman, hoping she would be able to help. He was good at some things, but he didn't exactly have an extensive medical knowledge.

"She's not breathing, Beth, run and get your father!" Carol said panicked as she searched for the medical equipment they needed.

"Shit," Daryl hissed as he tried to think back to how they had resuscitated Hershel when he had his leg amputated. While Carol and Beth were gone, he placed his lips gently onto Melanie's and breathed into her mouth, hoping he could restart her lungs, as he pressed down carefully on her chest. "Mel, come on," he whispered. As he tried again.

He breathed in again and pushed on her chest gently, doing chest compressions on her as he desperately tried to save her.

"C'mon Mel, please." He pleaded as he heard choke and gasp for breath as she started to tremble in his arms.

He heard the door open, and Beth rushed in, with Hershel following behind, as fast as he could with the one leg. "What's going on?" Hershel asked as he hurried over to Melanie's bedside and tried to check her over.

"She weren't breathin'," Daryl said as he stroked her hair gently. "I tried to do that mouth to mouth thingy," he added, not knowing the correct medical term for it.

"You saved her life Daryl." Hershel said relieved as he checked her over and redressed her wounds when Axel came in looking worried.

"How is the little lady?" He asked quietly.

"Not good, we need Milton and the supplies now." Daryl said frustrated as they heard a car pulling up.

"That sounds promising," Axel said quietly, but he pulled his weapon out anyway. They were still on edge after the attack from Woodbury, and they couldn't have been more careful about the people that they let into the prison, especially if they didn't know them; Axel looked out the door just long enough to establish who it was. "It's Andrea's car," he said with relief evident in his voice, as he put his gun away, and opened the doors so Andrea and Merle could bring the stuff in.

"Ya hear that Mel?" Daryl asked softly as he looked down at her lifeless body. "Yer gonna be OK. Milton's gonna help ya."

Axel turned around again looking shocked. "Uh, you're not going to like the company that they've brought with them."

"Who did they bring?" Rick asked as they headed outside to meet with Merle, Andrea and Milton outside the prison yard.

"The Governor."

"What the hell is he doing here?" Rick snarled as he pulled out his gun and aimed it at Phillip, as he looked accusingly at Andrea and Merle, waiting for an answer that would convince him not to shoot the man who had made their lives even more hell than they already were. "After everything he did to us, to the two of you, you think its OK just to let him wander back in here?!"

"Rick, please!" Andrea said exasperated. "He's not here to fight; he just wants to see his daughter."

Rick looked at Phillip who hadn't brought his gun out on them and noticed that that he looked tense and ready to fight him to see Melanie.

"Fine, but he has someone watching him while he's here." Rick stated firmly.

"I can do that." Phillip said calmly.

Rick looked to Merle. "Well, since you're the one who brought him back, might as well be you who keep an eye on him. Any trouble Merle, and I mean any trouble, and you get rid of him," Rick said, his tone deadly serious, and Merle nodded as they all walked towards the infirmary.

"What sort of injuries are we talking about here?" Milton asked Rick.

"Melanie's got a punctured left lung, her wrist is sprained and she's got stab marks all over stomach and chest." Rick said grimly as they headed to the cell block where the others were.

"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING HERE?" Glenn shouted at them.

"Let's not be startin' any trouble now," Merle snapped as he stood between the Governor and Glenn, making sure there was no fight. That was the last thing that Melanie needed at the minute. "He's just here to see his daughter and the quicker we get to her the better," he added as he stared at Glenn. "Got it?"

Glenn was still for a moment before nodding at him grudgingly.

"Melanie's in the infirmary, she stopped breathing and Daryl did mouth to mouth." He explained as he led them to the infirmary.

"Glenn he's not the guy who attacked us." Maggie stated looking at her uncle.

"What?" Glenn asked stunned.

"I can tell," Maggie said quietly as she thought back to the time she had been locked in the room with the man, who came very close to sexually abusing her, while her boyfriend had been beaten up in the room beside her. "If this is the Governor, then this isn't the man who held us hostage in Woodbury."

Phillip looked at Merle. "What did I tell you?" he snapped as he looked back at Glenn and Maggie. "It was my brother who did those things to you, not me."

"Brian, you're older brother?" Hershel asked as he came out of the cell with Beth.

"Yes, my charming older brother." He said looking at them as they headed to the infirmary where they saw Carol, Daryl sitting with Melanie who was asleep.

"Melanie," Phillip whispered out as he cautiously made his way over to his daughter. He felt an ache in his heart, seeing her like this, even although he didn't know her very well. "I'm so sorry... what on earth have they done to you?!"

Melanie didn't answer, her face was pale, her arms, legs and feet were smeared in blood and her face was bruised from Drake.

"She needs a blood transfusion." Milton said quietly as he and Hershel prepared for the surgery on Melanie.

"I'll do it." Phillip said but Hershel shook his head.

"You've been drinking."

"I want to help my daughter," Phillip insisted, as he stared down Hershel. It might have been the only chance to make up for the time he had lost with her.

Milton shook his head, hoping her could convince his friend better. "It will help her more if you don't. Does anyone know her blood type?"

"She's O' negative." Maggie said quietly looking around.

"I'm her blood type." Daryl said looking at them.

"You'll help her?" Phillip asked.

Daryl looked at the Governor as if he was stupid. "Of course I'll help her, she's my best friend," he said as he sat down next to her so that Milton could set up the transfusion. He took Melanie's hand, as Hershel used the needle to put the IV tube into one of Daryl's veins, and Milton did the same with Melanie, careful not to irritate the wounds on her arm. "Not like ya would know that, though."

"Of course," Phillip nodded quietly, as he sat at the opposite side of the bed and became silent.

"So how did Melanie get all these scars and burns?" Phillip asked quietly.

"From her mom from hell, Eve." Daryl said looking at him.

"Did you sleep with my daughter?"


	4. Remember When

Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again but will he be able to raise Melanie from the ashes with the help of a former enemy? – Co – Written with HersDixon. Daryl/OC, Merle/Carol, Brenda/Hershel, Rick/Rowan, Phillip/Andrea, Carl/Beth.

Ashes And Dust

Chapter 4

* * *

Daryl's eyes snapped up. "The hell kinda question is that? I ain't gotta tell you," he said annoyed, that suddenly Phillip was interested in his daughters life.

"I've always cared about Melanie and tried looking for her but Eve took her away before I could get her." Phillip said thinking back on his past.

"Shall we go look for Mr and Mrs Crazy?" Merle asked Rick as they saw Oscar hurrying in along with Tomas.

"We saw Drake and Michonne in the tombs."

"I wanna have a chat with them," Phillip said angrily, getting up from the chair as he gave Melanie's hand a gentle squeeze. He wanted to kill the two of them for what they had done to his daughter. He wanted to finish what his brother should have done when he had them captured.

"Guess that means I'm comin' with ya," Merle mumbled. "Since I've been appointed yer damn babysitter."

Daryl looked at the two of them. "Make sure ya don't hurt them too bad now," he said, making everyone else look at him in confusion. "That's my job."

Phillip nodded "Which one of them do you want?" He asked calmly.

"I'll have Drake, the bastard touched my woman." Daryl said coldly.

"I'll deal with Michonne then." Phillip said and they headed out of the room.

"So Phillip isn't the bad guy then?" Beth asked stunned.

"Doesn't look like it," Maggie said quietly as they watched him go with Merle. She still didn't entirely trust him, but he seemed genuinely concerned about what happened to Melanie. "And he definitely wasn't the one who hurt me and Glenn either."

"His town still attacked us," Glenn mumbled as he looked at the rest of them in disbelief. "Let's not forget that."

"Let's just focus on Melanie getting better for now, shall we?" Hershel asked, trying to break the tension that had formed in the room.

They all nodded and Daryl stroked Melanie's ruby red locks as he watched her sleep calmly when Rick came over.

"How is she?" He asked quietly.

"Not good, they're getting the operating room ready for surgery and I can't be in there with her. This is all my damn fault, I shouldn't have left her." He said anguish in his voice.

Rick sat down next to him and patted his back gently. "It's not your fault Daryl. You didn't know what Michonne and Drake were going to do. None of us did. We trusted them," he said quietly, feeling regret. He had never seen Daryl looking so upset or defeated, not even when they had lost Merle back in Atlanta, resulting in Merle with one hand less. "She really means a lot to you, doesn't she?" he asked softly.

"More than anything, I care about her like hell." Daryl said remembering the times they would spend together.

Hershel came in then. "We're ready to perform the surgery." He said softly.

Daryl sighed as he looked down at Mel. "Yer gonna be alright, Mel," he said softly as he kissed her forehead. "I'll see you soon, yeah?" He picked her up in his arms, and with the aid of Rick, carried her into the operating room where they set her down gently on the bed. Daryl kissed her cheek gently again before they had to leave the room, leaving her in the hands of Milton and Hershel.

"She's in good hands, Daryl." Andrea reassured him as they sat in the cell block where they watched Judith giggle at them as she played with them.

"Is Melanie gonna be alright?" Carl asked quietly.

"She will be," Beth said softly as she gave Carl a small smile. "I know Melanie, she's going to fight this, and she's going to be better in no time."

Carol handed everyone plates of rice for dinner, but no one was feeling particularly hungry, especially Daryl, who had lost his appetite completely, and they were only picking at their food, as he thought back to happier times with Melanie to take his mind off things.

He been to her house heaps of times seeing as Eve was always out scoring drugs or whoring herself out with her latest man. Melanie had two part time jobs one at the local newspaper shop where she worked during the evenings and working at the local bar.

Eve had never cared about Melanie, which much was obvious.

When she had been a baby and a toddler, if Melanie had been an inconvenience to Eve, she would have had no second thoughts about hitting her, or burning her with a cigarette to get her to shut up. And that had pretty much carried on right up until Melanie was much older. Maybe she would have been better off with her father after all.

Daryl always thought the reason they had bonded so well was because they had both come from messed up families, and they understood each other, better than anyone else could. He adored her, and would do anything to protect her.

She adored him as well and they had become some what of friends with benefits, they were drink buddies, best friends and lovers.

Merle had warmed up to Melanie as well after his latest stint in prison after being jailed for possessing coke. She had told him to stop using drugs or she and Daryl would leave him on his own with no regrets. That had woken him up and he had gotten clean.

After that, and Merle stopped suffering from his medical problems, he had pretty much owed his life to Melanie. Otherwise he would have probably ended up dead in a ditch somewhere.

Melanie pretty much lived with the brothers, Merle didn't mind so much, as long as they kept out of his space.

Daryl remembered the first time they had slept together and felt something in him stir; he would never forget that night. It had been the best night of his life, he was no virgin and neither was Melanie.

* * *

_Daryl was sitting in his favorite bar along with Merle, who was getting pretty drunk by now, as they waited on Mel finishing her shift so that they could go home. The two of them watched in laughter as Merle tried to chat up some random girl who had no interest in him whatsoever._

_"Merle, she ain't interested in you, leave her alone," Melanie said smirking as she looked at the clock. Another ten minutes and they could leave._

_"Shut up, Mel." Merle slurred and Luna looked at the three of them and chuckled softly as she pulled her dark blonde hair into a high ponytail._

_"You go Mel; Anna was supposed to be here two minutes ago." She told her friend._

_"Are you gonna be ok here on you're own?" Melanie asked her as she grabbed her black leather jacket as her heels scarped against the wood._

_"I'll be fine, plus Tom's here so no trouble." Luna said smiling._

_"Alright, if you're sure," Melanie said with a smile. "Plus, we're getting Merle out of your hair anyway, so that has to be a bonus."_

_Luna laughed as she watched Mel and Daryl try to pry Merle away from the bar, with a little of a struggle. Wasn't the first time this had happened, and certainly wouldn't be the last, that was for sure. "Night, guys!"_

_"Night, Luna!" They yelled back._

_"Night sugar tits!" Merle yelled as they all laughed._

_Daryl and Melanie had put Merle in the back of the truck as he crashed out almost instantly and started to snore lightly as they drove to Daryl and Merle's place._

_"Ya stayin' with us tonight?" Daryl asked as he drove to their house anyway, not even thinking about going to her mother's house._

_"If you don't mind," she said quietly, as she looked down at her hands. Daryl knew everything about her and her mother, but she still got embarrassed when she had to talk about it. "Plus, you could probably use some help with sleeping beauty back there," she joked, nodding her head towards Merle's passed out figure._

_Daryl chuckled. "That's true. Wanna get a movie or somethin' on the way home? An' a pizza? Got a bottle of Southern Comfort that needs drinkin' in the cupboard back home," he added smirking._

_"Sounds good, just not any cheesy romance alright?" She asked as they stopped at the Pizza Hut and ordered three pizzas with pepperoni, mushrooms and ham for Merle, meat feast for both Daryl and Melanie with cheesy crust and cheese on garlic bread with cookie dough._

_"I'm going to get fat." She said as they got the food and headed to their local blockbuster film rental store._

_Daryl laughed. "Don't ya worry, ya need some meat on those bones anyway, there's barely anythin' of ya girl." They parked up the truck and got out, with Daryl locking it behind him. It was unlikely anyone would steal it, especially not with Merle snoozing in the back._

_They headed inside and looked around. Daryl picked up a few movies before getting fed up of trying to find something decent and looked at Melanie. "Ya wanna pick the movie?"_

_"Sure, why not." She said smiling slightly._

_They looked at the aisles and soon Melanie had picked some black, comedy horrors which consisted of the Scary movie series and Daryl had picked The Texas Chainsaw Massacre._

_"I'm lookin' forward to this," Daryl said with a genuine smile as they got the movies and headed back out to the truck. He didn't know how to describe it, but there was something about Melanie that just made him happy, every time he was around her. They put the movies in the truck and drove home. Daryl could smell the food and it was making him even hungrier._

_"Let's just get Merle into bed before we start, that way he won't interrupt out movie," she chuckled quietly. "Leave him with his pizza and he'll be happy enough."_

_Daryl laughed as they pulled up in front of the house and got out as they helped Merle into the house and upstairs to his room. He was barely realising where he was when they put him on the bed and placed his pizza on his little table._

_"He snores so loud." Melanie laughed._

_Daryl smiled at her as they looked at the moves and he looked confused._

_"What the hell is Chernobyl Diaries?"_

_"It's a horror movie," she said as she laughed quietly, and got their food out, placing it on the sofa, as she went to find the bottle of Southern Comfort he had been talking about. "It's about a group of people who go to the home of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor; you know where the disaster was? I won't ruin the movie for you, but long story short, they aren't alone. Don't worry, I'll hold your hand if you need me to."_

_Daryl scoffed as he looked at her. "More like the other way around, scaredy-cat."_

_She laughed at him as they ate their pizza and watched the film in silence as the credits went on to explain that the group of friends were never found and how their parents tried to find them._

_"Stupid going there in the first place." Daryl said eating a slice of pizza as they watched the friends arrive in the town._

_Melanie chuckled as she took a drink from the bottle of Southern Comfort and passed it to Daryl. "Jeez, just shut up and watched the movie," she said smirking, as she made herself comfortable cuddled into the cushions. "I thought your brother was bad to watch a movie with, not you."_

_"Shut it." He said amused as they watched strange looking people watch the group of friends as they went into the block of flats._

_Melanie smiled to herself, as she knew that a bear was about to run through the hallway in the movie, and she waited as she saw Daryl jump slightly in shock. "Ha! Now who's the scaredy-cat?" she asked with a laugh, as she playfully swatted his arm and bit into another slice of pizza._

_"Fuck off." Daryl said taking a gulp of Southern Comfort as they continued to watch the movie and watched as Chris was bitten by a rabid dog making Melanie jump slightly.  
_

_Soon the whole group of friends were dead or missing leaving the dark haired woman as the lone survivor as she woke up in a hospital bed and two scientists were talking to her._

_As it turns out the 'creatures' were escaped patients who had been recaptured. But with the rest of the group dead, they decide the girl knows too much and shouldn't be allowed to leave. She ends up being put in a cell, where she was attacked too. "Well that was depressin'," Daryl mumbled as he took another long drink._

_Melanie laughed. "What would you have rather watched, Darylina? Toy Story?"_

_"Shut up; let's watch another movie that doesn't have fuckin zombies in it." He said as he put in Texas Chainsaw Massacre and it started._

_They watched the film intently as it was revealed that the antagonist's family were cannibals and fed on people._

_"That is so fucked up." Daryl said disgusted._

_"Why would people actually do that?" Melanie asked as she watched the film and scrunched her face up. "I mean why would you wanna eat people when you have... pizza?" she shrugged, noticing the empty box on the floor.  
_

_"Folks get desperate to eat and when there aint any stores or supplies, that happens." Daryl said dryly as they watched one of the family members get killed by being shot by one of the siblings and then kill Leatherface along with his girlfriend and their dog._

_The film ended with the survivors alive with their dog and telling police what had happened._

_"Well, Daryl, your movie choice was a hundred times cheerier than mine," she said sarcastically._

_"Better than that shitty film about zombies." Daryl said amused as they finished eating their pizza and started eating the cookie dough.  
_

_"Shall we see what's on TV?" she asked, as he nodded and flicked on a soccer game. "Oh hell no, we ain't watching that shit," she mumbled as she climbed over him to try and get the remote, which he pulled out of her grip, smirking._

_She grabbed the remote off him and switched it to the news channel where they were told that a nine year old girl had gone missing from the park where she had been playing with her two older brothers and sisters. She hadn't been seen since._

_"Well shit." Daryl said stunned._

_"That sucks," Melanie said softly as she watched the news sadly. "Poor kid. What do you think happened to her?"_

_"God knows," Daryl said quietly._

_"Let's go to bed." Daryl said as they both got up and headed upstairs before Melanie gently pressed her lips to Daryl's._

_He stilled as he felt her body press into his and suddenly lost all control._

_She pressed herself in closer to him, and stroked his cheek gently. "Let's do something crazy tonight," she said smiling as she gestured towards the bed. "We're friends, right?"_

_Daryl licked his dry lips as he looked at her. "Yeah. We certainly are," he breathed, finding himself not being able to say no to her. He had fantasized about this moment for so long._

_"Alright then, let's do it," Mel grinned, feeling somehow strangely confident as she went and sat on the bed. The alcohol had encouraged her to do something she had wanted to try for a long time, and she didn't know if it was because Daryl was also partly drunk, or if he wanted the same._

_Melanie watched as he undressed, her eyes filled with desire, and Daryl realized, it was all for him. And he had never seen her look so damn beautiful in his life. He threw his shirt to the side, along with his jeans, and sat down next to her on the bed. "We don't gotta do this if ya don't wanna," Daryl said quietly as he watched her, but his body was protesting, and he could already feel himself hardening in his boxers._

_"No, I want to," Melanie whispered seductively. She trusted Daryl to do this, hell, she trusted him with her life. She just hoped that their friendship was going to be the same after they had done this. She couldn't deal with Daryl growing distant from her. Realizing Daryl was a little more nervous than he looked, she slowly started to unbutton her shirt, leaving her only in her lacy bra, and she noticed Daryl swallow hard, which made her smirk. "Like what you see, Dixon?" she asked jokingly._

_"Ya got no idea," he muttered as he crawled over closer to her, and kissed her, before he found his lips moving downwards on their own accord, and trailing over her chest. She let out a soft moan, and Daryl had never been this turned on before. He reached his hands around her back, and rubbed the smooth skin gently, before undoing the bra with his hands, finding it a little harder than he had hoped for. "What's the damn point in these things anyway?"_

_Melanie laughed as he threw the bra to the floor, and his mouth attacked her breasts, pulling her nipple into his mouth and sucking gently. "Oh Christ, Daryl," she gasped, as he kneaded the other with his hands. There was certainly no turning back now; they had definitely crossed the line that made them only friends. She lay back and Daryl went with her, his tongue continuing to tease her as she squirmed underneath him. She could feel his erection pressing against her leg, and was surprised to find how much Daryl obviously wanted her. He had done a pretty good job of hiding his sexual attraction in the past. But he was no longer able to deny how much he wanted this, how much he needed this._

_His fingers worked down to her jeans, and he popped the button on them, before pulling the zipper down, and she tried to wriggle out of the jeans. There was really no sexy way to get out of skinny jeans, but Daryl seemed too distracted at the moment to even care. She kicked them off the bed onto the floor, leaving her only in her panties and her heels._

_"Yer so damn gorgeous, Mel," Daryl groaned in appreciation as he looked at her body and licked his lips. "I've been dreamin' about this for so long," he admitted._

_"You're not too bad yourself, Daryl," she smiled as she leaned up to kiss him, his tongue slipping past her lips and battling with her own. "So are we going to do this or what?" she asked, her hands running up his sides in anticipation._

_Daryl laughed as he hooked his fingers into her panties and pulled them down her legs. "Easy now, darlin'," he smiled as she lay before him, completely naked and beautiful. "Later on, I wanna make ya scream the whole night," he said, a promise of what was to come. "But right now, we just gotta do this; otherwise I ain't gonna last long. Been wantin' this for a while." he said as he ran his finger down, and it just barely brushed over her entrance._

_"Oh shit," she moaned, tossing her head back. She reached her hands into Daryl's boxers and whipped them off. He was bigger than she had expected and she was pleasantly surprised._

_"Like what ya see?" Daryl smirked, repeating her words from earlier. She nodded and smiled up at him, showing her dazzling white teeth, as she reached into his bedside drawer for a condom. She knew where they were, she had found them one time when she had been cleaning his room, as a thanks for letting her stay here. She opened the foil packet, and rolled the condom down over the top of him, her hand stroking him a few more times than need be, making Daryl groan loudly._

_He threw a leg over her, and climbed on top as he positioned himself, and they both saw something flash in each others eyes. They were really going to do this. He took her hand and laced his fingers with her own. "Ya ready for this?"_

_"Very much," she said softly, as she raised her hips up in encouragement. With one hard thrust, Daryl pushed himself deep inside her, and they both made a noise of pleasure. There was something much better about doing this with each other, than they had felt with anyone else._

_He slowly pulled his hips back, and thrust forward again, slowly to begin with, before her moans encouraged him to pick up his speed. She scratched his skin in her violent need to get closer, and he looked down at her, his eyes filled with passion and need, his lips slightly parted in pleasure. "You feel so good, Mel, much better than in my dreams," he panted as he held her hand tightly and stretched her arms above her head._

_"You feel good too, Daryl," she whimpered, as he continued to pound into her, and she had an overwhelming feeling of happiness, pleasure, content. She would quite happily do this forever. She felt herself being pushed further into the mattress every time he pushed back into her, his thumbs pressing into her hips as he kissed her. She moaned against his mouth, and he bit down gently on her bottom lip. She shifted a little and gasped when he seemed to feel even deeper than before. "Oh, yes, right there Daryl."_

_Daryl smiled as he felt the first contractions of her orgasm and tightened his grip on her, pounding into her harder than he thought he could, trying to prolong the pleasure for her and make her feel as good as possible. Sex had never been like this before, he usually just got what he wanted, and whether the girl got off or not didn't really matter to him. But Mel was different; he wanted her to enjoy this just as much as him. He kissed her hard, holding her tight in his arms._

_His thrusting became harder then, desperate, now that he had finally pushed her over the edge, and only a couple of seconds later, when he exploded inside of her he groaned his relief into her mouth. She felt him tighten above her, and he let out a long groan, as he came, harder than he ever had before, his body shuddering and jerking on top of her, until he was empty, as she held him close, and they came down from their orgasms, the first of many that night._

_"Damn." Daryl groaned pulling her into him as she stroked his chest gently as they both caught their breath after their mind blowing sex._

_"That was amazing." She said kissing him lightly as he held her._

_That certainly was," Daryl grinned down at her, "We have so gotta do that again."_

_Melanie laughed quietly as she reached out to touch his cheek. "This doesn't change things between us... right?"_

_"No, it doesn't." He assured her quietly as they got under the covers and curled up together as they both fell asleep._

* * *

Daryl was knocked out of his daydreaming when he heard the door and seen Hershel and Milton walking through, covered in blood, which he assumed to be Melanie's, and he felt his heart break a little. "The surgery's done," Hershel said softly. "She managed to pull through, but she's still not doing great."

"Can I see her?" Daryl asked hopefully.

"You can, but she's asleep." Hershel said quietly.

Daryl nodded and headed to the infirmary.

* * *

Merle, Phillip and now Rick were looking for Drake and Michonne in the tombs when they heard voices whispering.

"Now what are we gonna do Michonne?"

"I don't know," Michonne hissed, her voice barely audible, if they were caught then they were in big trouble, and both of them seemed to know that. "We can't escape from here without them seeing us, and they've probably figured out it was us who did that to Melanie by now."

"This was yer damn plan," Drake mumbled, as they walked, trying to keep their footsteps light and quiet. "Didn't ya think this far ahead?"

"No, sorry I didn't." She snapped as they went further into the tombs when Drake spoke quietly to her.

"Do you think that the Governor's here?"

"Well, that bitch is his daughter," Michonne mumbled, as she tried to find another way out of the prison. "I imagine he's probably snooping around here somewhere."

"Think about it, sis," Drake whispered. "We could find him; kill him too, for everything he done to us."

"Well, he didn't do anything to us, did he? All he did was sleep with me then go onto Andrea after I screamed he raped me." Michonne said dryly much to the shock of Merle and Rick.

"His older brother Brian is the one who did it." She said coldly.

"Why the hell did they do that to Melanie then?" Merle whispered angrily to the other two men, who just shook their heads as they walked on. "Animals," he mumbled as he gripped his gun tightly. "What are we gonna do with them?"

"Capture them and kill them." Phillip said coldly as they walked on and found the two at a dead end.

"Going somewhere?" Phillip drawled.

"What the hell?" Michonne snapped as she pulled out a knife and aimed it at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to avenge my daughter," Phillip snapped.

"You mean Daryl's whore." She snapped before charging at him, only to be slapped by him hard on the face as she fell over.

"You're going to die."

"Let's get Daryl." Merle said quietly and then saw Drake's knife was covered in blood and there were strands of red hair on his shirt.

"You sick bastard," Merle growled as he lunged over at Drake and started to attack him.

"Merle, Merle," Phillip said trying to ease him off. "Leave him for Daryl."

Merle let him pull him off Drake but watched as Phillip punched Drake across the face, causing him to cough out a broken tooth.

"Let's get Daryl and tell the others." Rick said grimly.

They nodded and dragged Michonne and Drake behind them as they went back through to their cellblock, and found the others, who looked up at them worriedly. "Lock 'em up in a cell for the time bein'," Merle instructed, as Phillip and Rick did as he had asked. "Where's Daryl?" Merle asked Beth.

"He's in the infirmary," she said quietly. "With Melanie."

* * *

Merle nodded and made his way to the infirmary, pushing open the doors gently so as not to startle Daryl. He found Daryl sitting beside Melanie's bed, sobbing quietly into her hair. Merle swallowed. He had never seen his brother this torn up about anything. "Baby brother?" he asked softly, but Daryl didn't look up. "We found them. We've got the bastards who did this to her."

Daryl looked up at that and stroked Melanie's cheek gently as he got up as Sasha came in with Beth and Carl.

"You go, we'll stay with her." Beth said gently as she bounced Judith.

Daryl nodded. "Thanks."

Daryl followed Merle out of the infirmary, his fists clenching at his sides, as rage ran through him, and he thought of what he was going to do to Drake once he got his hands on him. They entered the cellblock and everyone looked up at him. They knew what was coming. Dale and Carol especially, they knew how much force he had used on Randall when they had been staying back at Hershel's farm.

"Where are they?" he growled menacingly, as Phillip led him into the cell where Michonne and Drake were being held captive.

"There they are." Phillip said nodding at Drake who was leaning against the wall as he glared at Daryl with cold green eyes as did Michonne.

"Yer gonna pay for what yer did to Melanie!"

Drake just continued to glare at him. "She deserved it, after what her family did to us," he spat coldly, before walking towards Daryl. "She didn't even scream for you, she was having too much fun with me," he sneered, and Merle knew Daryl was about to snap. "She was a real fine piece of ass, best I've ever had. So damn tight."

Daryl snapped, he started to hit Drake with his fists as he cried out in pain and tried to get away when he slammed one of his bolts into Drake's shoulder making him scream.

"OH FUCK ME, STOP, PLEASE FUCKING STOP!"

"No chance," Daryl snarled as he hit him harder, twisting the arrow into his shoulder, making him cry out, as Michonne, Merle and Phillip all watched in horror. "I'm gonna kill ya for what you did!" Daryl growled out, with his teeth clenched together. He kicked Drake repeatedly in the crotch, and the man yelped in pain every time.

Phillip looked at Merle wondering what they should do. "I didn't realize he cared for my daughter so much."

"He cares about her alright, if I didn't know any better I say he'd loved her." Merle said quietly as Daryl stabbed Drake with an arrow to the cock.

"Now yer aint gonna be able to be a man now, ya sick fuck." Daryl snarled at him as Drake sobbed in pain.

"SHE FUCKING DESERVED IT, FUCKING LITTLE WHORE!" Michonne screamed as Dale hurried in to stop them.

"STOP!"

THIS IS FOR WHAT YA DID!" Daryl snapped angrily. "YA SHOULD DIE AND BURN IN HELL!"

"Daryl, stop, please," Dale begged as he tried to get the younger man to calm down. "Melanie's awake. She's trying to ask for you."

Daryl looked at Dale then and after kicking Drake once more in the chest, he went to Melanie and to comfort her.

* * *

Carol was sitting holding Melanie's hand as she cried, her chest heaving up and down, partly from her crying and partly from the pain that she was in. She had the blankets wrapped tightly around her body, ashamed of what Drake had done to her.

"We're going to help you through this, Melanie," Carol said softly.

"Why, why do you want to help me after what my father did to all of you?" She asked her voice hoarse and her face tear stained.

"He didn't do this to us Melanie; it was his older brother Brian." Carol explained and Melanie looked stunned.

"What, you mean he was innocent?" She asked shocked as she took a sip of water from the cup that Carol had given her.

Carol nodded. "He didn't do anything to try and hurt our group. He was only looking out for his town, and his other daughter."

Melanie swallowed at the new information. She had a sibling she didn't even know about? "He has another daughter? I have a sister? A half sister?"

"Melanie, sweetie, she died," Carol said softly, as she squeezed her hand a little tighter, knowing Melanie was already suffering a breakdown.

Melanie swallowed trying to take this in as she held Carol's hand tightly in hers as she felt her eyes burn.

"How did she die?" She asked quietly trying not to cry.

"Michonne killed her when she was a walker; she stabbed her through the mouth." Carol said gently.

"I'm going to kill her," Melanie said quietly, but groaned in pain when she tried to shift around. Her whole body was aching; it felt like she was on fire.

Carol gave her a sad smile. "Don't worry, sweetheart, I think your boyfriend is taking care of that for you."

"Daryl's not my boyfriend," Melanie said softly, remembering how much Daryl hated the term. "We're just friends."

"I think it's more than that, sweetie." She said smiling at her gently as Daryl hurried in and sat down next to Melanie.

"Hey, Dare." Melanie said softly feeling her eyes burn with tears.

"Mel," he whispered quietly, as he tilted her head towards him and kissed her gently before he rested his forehead against hers. "I thought I had lost ya, Mel... I... I don't know what I'd do without my best friend," he admitted quietly, feeling his own eyes start to well up.

"Beth told me you saved my life," she said quietly, as her fingers reached up to touch his cheek, brushing over the stubble. "Thank you."

"Ya don't need to thank me," Daryl said as he tried to get as close to her as possible without hurting her. "I'd do anythin' for ya. Anythin'."

"I know and I'd do the same." She said curling into him as Phillip came into the room with Beth, Maggie, Glenn, Judith and Carl.

"Hey Mel." Maggie said softly as she gave her cousin a soft smile.

"Hey, Maggie," Melanie said softly, as she tried her best to smile back, only coming out weakly.

Phillip looked at Daryl, almost looking for permission, before he stepped forward cautiously. "Hello, Melanie."

Melanie looked at him and narrowed her eyes. He looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place him. "Hello. Do I know you?"

"You might not know me that well, seeing as that picture is the only thing you have of me since you were three years old. I'm your father, Melanie." Phillip said softly as she stared at him in shock and surprise.

"You're the Governor?"

Phillip nodded sadly, knowing the reputation that he had, and what they probably associated with that name. "Yes. But I'm not as bad as you might think I am. All those things your people thought that I did to them, that wasn't me. That was your uncle, Brian."

Melanie nodded as she held Daryl's hand for reassurance. "I know. Carol told me about you. Why are you here?"

"I wanted to see you, to see how you were and be here for you. I know I haven't been involved in your life and it's my fault." He said pained at failing his daughter.

"It wasn't your fault that was Eve." She said mentioning her estranged mother who had made her life hell since the day she'd been born.

Phillip nodded, as he looked at the seat opposite Daryl. "May I sit down?" he asked quietly.

Melanie gave him a weak smile. "Yes, you can... dad."

Phillip smiled softly as he looked at Daryl. "At least you had this man looking after you, where I failed."

"Wasn't you're fault any of you." She said smiling tiredly as she fell asleep on the bed, her chest rising and falling as she slept.

"Why don't we let her get some rest?" Hershel asked softly, as he watched his niece for any signs she was suffering discomfort in her sleep.

Rick nodded, as they all got up to leave the infirmary.

"I'd like to stay with her?" Phillip asked, as he looked at them all warily. Andrea could tell that he wasn't going to do her any harm, and he was genuinely hurting over the whole situation. "If you all don't mind?"

"Not at all, Daryl and Andrea can stay." Rick said as they both nodded and the others left as Beth placed a teddy bear on the bed and smiled.

"She's had that since she was a baby, I think it will help." She said softly walking away as the tree looked at each other.

"So is Drake dead?"

Phillip shook his head, "No, but he's barely alive after what Daryl did," he said, although his tone wasn't accusing. Phillip didn't blame Daryl for anything that he had done. "He would have been dead if Dale hadn't come in to tell us that Melanie was awake," he added, knowing that Drake had a lucky escape this time. Next time, probably not so much.

"He deserved it," Daryl snapped as he stroked Melanie's hair gently. "For the things he did to my girl."

"No one's saying he didn't." Andrea said calmly and she thought of the pain, fear and shame Melanie felt and her heart broke for her friend.

"She's a brave woman." Maggie said softly.

"She is," Phillip agreed as he looked down at Melanie. "I can't believe I missed being there for her. I should have tried harder to get custody of her, I had a sweet, beautiful, brave daughter, and I just let her go."

"Wasn't yer fault, yer tried but Eve ran away with her." Daryl said quietly as Maggie hurried in, she looked worried.

"Rick and Dale are arguing about Michonne and Drake."

* * *

**So what are Dale and Rick arguing about? x**


	5. We Did This For Her

Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again but will he be able to raise Melanie from the ashes with the help of a former enemy? – Co – Written with HersDixon. Daryl/OC, Merle/Carol, Brenda/Hershel, Rick/Rowan, Phillip/Andrea, Carl/Beth.

Ashes And Dust

Chapter 5

* * *

"It's not right," Dale said, as he paced around the cellblocks. "We shouldn't be torturing them like that," he added, trying to hold on to the last piece of humanity that the group seemed to be losing. "Especially not Michonne! She's a woman, and it's not what we do Rick. If we do, then it makes us no better than the people of Woodbury."

Rick looked at Dale exasperated. "Have you forgotten what they did to Melanie? He raped her for God's sake!"

"I know but that doesn't mean we have to stoop down to their level." He said firmly as the others came over looking concerned.

"What's goin' on?" Merle asked as he sat down next to Carol.

"We shouldn't kill Drake and Michonne." Dale stated firmly.

Merle looked at him in disbelief. "And why the hell not?"

Dale sighed, knowing he was going to have a hard time trying to get his point across. "I know what they did wasn't right, but I believe there are better solutions than killing them."

"Try tellin' that to my brother," Merle muttered as he rubbed at his face tiredly.

"Ya want us to keep that animal alive, Dale?" Daryl asked the older man as he entered the room with Phillip and Andrea, Maggie was with Melanie.

"We aren't murderers!" Dale yelled.

"No, we ain't," Daryl snarled as he looked at the older man. "But after what they did to Mel, I wouldn't think twice about killin' the both of them!"

Carol shook her head sadly. "It's like Randall all over again."

"It's final, they're going to die." Rick stated coldly as he glared at Dale who shook his head at them.

"What's the Governor doing here?" He snapped.

"That's Mel's father," Daryl said as he looked at Phillip, and nodded at him grudgingly. "He ain't a bad man. It was his brother who the one was causin' all the trouble for us. It'll be good to keep him around, especially while Mel is gettin' better."

Phillip gave him a small smile. "Thanks Daryl," he said quietly.

"No problem." Daryl muttered as he headed to the cell deal with Drake as Phillip dragged Michonne out to the prison yard as they all followed.

"You're going to wish, that you never hurt my daughter." He told her as he chained her to the fence and slashed at her with his bowie knife.

"She deserved it," Michonne spat as she glared at him. "We should have killed her when we had the chance, but my brother was having far too much fun to do that."

Daryl kicked Drake again, and he whimpered in pain, from where he was already sore. "Ain't a tough guy now, are ya?"

"Fuck you, she's gonna have nightmares for the rest of her life Dixon." Drake spat at him as Phillip splashed something over Michonne and pulled out a lighter as he pulled the chains around her.

"I hope you burn in hell." He said as he set her on fire.

Daryl watched, slightly horrified that he had done that so easily. "Ya weren't joking when ya said ya were gonna make her suffer, were ya?" Daryl asked quietly, as he watched Michonne being burned alive, the smell of burning flesh filling the air, and making him feel slightly nauseous.

Phillip shook his head. "I told you she was going to pay for what she did to my daughter," he said as he looked at Drake. "Now, are you going to take care of him, or I am going to have to do it?"

"I'll do it, he hurt my woman." He said heading over to where Drake was screaming for Michonne as she burned alive.

"YOU SICK BASTARDS!" Drake screamed at them as Daryl stabbed him in the cock and in the stomach as he saw a herd of walkers and smiled darkly.

He slashed a trail of blood along the fence to get their attention and the walkers snarled as Daryl stabbed him repeatedly, feeling his blood stain his shirt, arms, hands and face as Drake screamed in agony.

"Aint such a man now are yer?" He snarled as he dragged him to where the walkers were.

He dropped him down on the ground breathing heavily, and made his escape back behind the fence where the walkers couldn't get to him.

He watched in a sick sense of satisfaction as Drake struggled to try and get up, before he fell back to the ground, in pain from his wounds, and the walkers began to crowd around him, before they all began to eat him, like some sort of human buffet.

He felt Phillip come up behind him and place a hand on his shoulder. "We did what we had to," he said quietly. "We did this for Melanie."

Daryl nodded. "I'm gonna go and get cleaned up then go see my woman," he said as he looked down at his blood covered clothes and skin.

Phillip nodded at him and watched him go as he watched Michonne slowly burn to ashes as he thought of Melanie and vowed that no one would hurt her or Andrea.

He still cared about Andrea.

He doubted that she would want anything to do with him after everything that had happened with Woodbury, but if he was going to be sticking around here for a bit while Melanie healed, then maybe they could get close again. Maybe.

* * *

Daryl stood under the shower as he rinsed the blood from Melanie, Drake and Michonne as he washed his hair. He watched the blood go down the drain and thought of Melanie and how he would get her through this hell.

He thought back to the morning after they had slept together and had sex in the shower afterwards.

* * *

_Daryl awoke and found Melanie lying in bed, watching him. "Hey there," he said smiling, wondering if what they had done last night had been a dream. She rolled over towards him, and Daryl felt her naked body against his. Nope, definitely not a dream then._

_"Hey yourself," she said, smirking when she felt him harden against her leg. "And good morning to you too."_

_He laughed and pushed her fringe from her forehead as he kissed her tenderly as they both sat up under the sheets._

_"Shall we shower?"_

_"That sounds like a good idea," she smiled as they got up from the bed, and she used the blanket to cover her as they headed to the bathroom, incase they happened to bump into Merle in the hallway. "Now... are you suggesting we shower together, or take it in turns?" she asked as she trailed a finger over his chest._

_"What a stupid damn question, woman," Daryl muttered as he pulled the sheet away from her body, and his eyes drank in the sight of her. He reached out to turn on the shower water, and they waited until it heated up a little before they got in._

_He backed her up against the shower wall and kissed her. A passionate, meaningful kiss, as his tongue stroked her own, and he grabbed a fistful of her hair. He knew where this was going in an instant, and felt his body shudder, excited for what was to come._

_She began to grind her hips against his, and Daryl groaned, as he grabbed at her waist pulling her closer. "Mel, yer gonna drive me crazy if ya keep doing this."_

_She chuckled quietly, as he lifted both her legs, and she wrapped them around his waist, as he used his hands to keep her up. "Ya think ya can be quiet?" Daryl asked as his teeth nipped at her neck and she sighed contentedly in his strong arms. "Merle's room's right next door to the bathroom, an' I don't think he'd appreciate the awakenin'.'Specially not with the hangover he's probably got."_

_Melanie smirked at him. "I'll try my best," she said as Daryl smiled at her, with a wicked glint in his eyes, as he slowly began to slide his hard length into her. No sooner than he had told her to be quiet and she let out a loud moan, making Daryl look at her warningly. "Sorry," she grinned as he began to thrust into her and she moaned out again. She bit down on his shoulder to stifle the sounds, as he picked up his pace and pounded into her hard against the shower wall._

_She felt her back slip against the water, but Daryl kept a firm grip as he continued to thrust in and out of her. "Ya like that? Ya want more?"_

_She nodded, unable to move her mouth away from his shoulder, scared she would wake up the whole damn town with her screams of pleasure, never mind just Merle. Daryl thrust into her as hard and fast as he could, and he felt her nails dig into his back, almost to the point it was painful, but at this moment in time, he couldn't really care less._

_He felt her teeth bite down harder and he groaned as her walls began to tighten around him, before her muscles started contracting, and she began to tremble in his arms as her orgasm flooded through her body, small whimpering sounds coming from her throat._

_Daryl smiled and held her hips tightly as he followed her actions and came hard, growling her name into her hair, as he rode out the waves of pure ecstasy. Hell, he wished he could stay like this forever._

_"C'mon, let's get something to eat." He said running a hand through her thick, red curls as they washed and headed out of the bathroom to get dressed._

_"Shit, that's my phone ringing." She said grabbing her Blackberry as they heard Eve screaming down the phone at her._

_The phone call had been from Eve, she had demanded to know where Melanie was and had freaked after hearing that Melanie was with him and Merle._

_Daryl had watched as Melanie sat down on the bed sighing, trying to calm down her mother. He wondered why she even bothered answering the phone to her mother; it was only going to upset her every time._

_Soon the phone call had ended and Melanie had gone to the bank to pay the bills with him going with her._

_She had paid the bills and gone home quickly only to get beaten up by Josh, her mom's latest fuck buddy._

_Daryl had gotten worried when she hadn't came back out to the truck after fifteen minutes, and he pressed the horn a couple of times, before getting out to go and see what was holding her up. He found her lying on the sitting room floor, bloody and with bruising on her face. Daryl had snapped, ready to kill whoever did it, and tried to look for Josh, but he had disappeared by then._

_That was also the day that Daryl insisted she packed a suitcase, and put some of her stuff into his and Merle's house, so she didn't have to go back to her mother's place often._

* * *

Since then they had become like a strange family, Melanie cooked and also went hunting with him and Merle. She knew about his abusive childhood and he knew about hers. He had met Hershel, Maggie, Beth, Sean and Annette heaps of times and became family.

He had found what was missing in his life; someone who cared about him. His mother and father certainly hadn't, and sure Merle did in his own strange, brotherly, Merle way, but Melanie truly cared about what happened to him, even if they argued, or disagreed over something.

Daryl sighed as he turned the shower off and got out; dressing in some clean clothes that Carol had washed for him.

He pulled on the clothes and headed to the infirmary where his girl was.

He found Maggie sitting at Melanie's bedside. Mel was still asleep, her face strangely peaceful for the pain that she was probably feeling. Daryl sat down opposite Maggie and kissed Mel's cheek gently before he held her hand tightly. "How's she doing?"

"There's not much change," Maggie said softly. "She's just been sleeping since you left the last time."

Daryl nodded and stroked her hair gently as they both watched Melanie sleep.

"Are ya ok with Mel?" He asked Maggie quietly.

"Yeah, I'm good," Maggie said with a soft smile before she looked at Daryl. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondered, ya know with Melanie's dad." He said quietly stroking her hair.

"It wasn't him who did that stuff to me and Glenn," Maggie said quietly, not liking to talk about her ordeal. "Phillip is not as bad as we thought. Besides, even if it was him who did that, I couldn't blame Mel. She didn't know him, and she would never have done anything like that. She's too sweet to be involved in that sort of thing."

"She's a good, kind wonderful woman." Daryl said stroking Melanie's red wavy curls.

"She certainly is," Maggie said with a small smile as she watched Daryl knowingly. She knew how much he cared about Melanie, but he would never admit it. The two of them had a strange sort of bond; they knew how they felt about each other without having to say it. Something she admired and hoped that she and Glenn would have one day.

She squeezed Melanie's hand tightly as Carol came in to check on her.

"Any change?" Carol asked softly, as she shifted Mel's pillows around to make her more comfortable, and refilled her cup of clean water beside her bed,

"Not really," Daryl said quietly, as he sighed and watched her sleep.

"She'll be alright." Carol assured them as Melanie stirred and looked around.

"Hey," she said quietly, her mind still foggy from the pain she was in. She noticed Maggie beside her and Daryl too, which made her feel instantly safe. She couldn't see her father however. Had she been dreaming or had he abandoned her again?

"Where's dad?" she asked Daryl.

"In the cell block, he figured ya be asleep. Daryl said softly as she gave him a weak smile.

"You're awake?" Phillip's voice called out.

"Yes," Melanie breathed as she seen Phillip come through the doors, and Maggie moved out of her seat so he could sit down. "I thought maybe you had left again."

Phillip smiled sadly. "I'm not going to do that. Not until you're better anyway. And if you want me gone after that, I'll leave you in peace."

"No, I want you to stay." She said quietly.

"If that's ok with the others."

"It will be fine," Carol assured her, hoping Rick would have no problem with keeping Phillip around. He didn't seem to be a threat to them at all anymore, and might have been more help than anything else.

"Whatever ya want," Daryl added as he gripped her hand. "How are ya feelin'?"

"Sore and a bit tired but I'm alright. How are all of you?" She asked holding his hand tightly, she felt safe with him around.

"We're alright."

She gave him a faint smile and buried her face into him, breathing in his scent that reminded her of home, her home with him and Merle. "I'm so glad you found me again."

"I wouldn't have stopped lookin' til I did," Daryl said softly. He wondered if he should tell her about what he and her father had done to Drake and Michonne, but he didn't want to upset her anymore. That could wait until she was better.

"Maggie, where's Annette, Sean, Otis, Jimmy and Patricia?" She asked her cousin looking around for their other relatives and suddenly felt worried about them as she saw Maggie's sorrowful face.

"They died," Maggie said quietly, and she noticed Melanie's eyes well up with tears again. "Mom and Sean, they got bit by walkers, and they turned. Dad kept them in the barn hoping for a cure, until Rick's friend, Shane; he opened up the barn and killed them all. Jimmy and Patricia were killed with walkers when a herd overtook the farm and we had to leave. They were both bitten. And Otis, well, he was shot by Shane while they were trapped with some walkers, and the walkers got him so Shane could get away."

Melanie let out a shaky breath. "This Shane guy sounds like an ass. He still around?"

"No, he tried to kill Rick and Rick killed him in self defence." Maggie said sadly.

"Oh, god." Melanie said pained.

"Why did he try to kill Rick?" Melanie asked quietly.

Maggie sighed. "It's a long story. Shane had been sleeping with Rick's wife when she thought Rick was dead, but when Rick came back, his wife avoided Shane, and Shane got a little jealous. His wife found out she was pregnant, and Shane tried to kill Rick, so he could have the family all to himself. Rick's wife died giving birth."

"What happened to the baby?"

"She's right here," Beth smiled as she came in with Judith in her arms. "Mel, say hello to Lil' Ass Kicker. Or Judith, if you prefer not to go with Daryl's nickname."

Melanie smiled at Judith warmly, "Hello little Judy." She said warmly as Judith placed a tiny finger against her cheek.

The others watched with a small smile as Judy cooed at Melanie. This had to be the first child she had seen since all of this had begun. "I never thought I would see another baby again," she admitted, as she stroked Judith's hair softly.

"You weren't the only one." Daryl said as realisation dawned on Melanie and she swallowed.

"Can I still have kids?"

Hershel took her hand. "It's too early to tell, sweetheart," he said softly. "Michonne's blade punctured your stomach, but we have no way of telling whether or not the womb was damaged. We don't have the proper medical equipment or knowledge here for that. I'm just a vet, and Milton is only learning as he goes along. I imagine there is a possibility you can, but there's also a chance you may not be able to."

Melanie nodded sadly. "I understand. I don't imagine it would be a good idea anyway, not with the world how it is now."

Daryl hugged her tightly, "Ya never know Mel, and we might have a baby someday." He said softly and she smiled at him softly as she leaned against the pillows.

"Thank you, all of you."

"You're very welcome," Milton said as he gave her a warm smile.

Melanie tried to sit up in the bed. "Can I have a cell? I hate being stuck in here; I'd rather be where everyone else is. Can I move my stuff back into the cell I was using before... before the attack?"

"Of course you can." Daryl said holding her hand as he helped her up and they headed back. "But I'm sharing with ya though."

"You don't need to do that, I'll be OK this time," she said softly, wanting a little space to herself after what had happened, especially after what happened with Drake.

"Alright, but I'm but next to ya." He said softly as they stood outside her cell and helped her get settled in.

"You still want to be with me?" She asked him quietly.

"Course I do," Daryl said as he kissed her cheek gently, and got her into her bed, pulling the covers up around her. "I hate my life without ya in it, Mel," he said truthfully as he brushed her cheek with his fingers, "And I know I never told ya this when I should have, but ya mean more to me than ya could possibly know. Yer more than just my best friend," he added softly.

She smiled up at him, as she relaxed against the pillows, "Thank you, Daryl. For everything."

"Don't need to thank me, Mel I'd do anything for ya." He said softly as she smiled and fell asleep with her hand holding his.

He stroked her hair gently and watched her sleep.

* * *

Hershel was showing Phillip all the photos he and Annette had of Melanie as a baby, a toddler, a little girl then into her teenage years and finally as a young adult.

"I can't believe I missed all of this," Phillip said sadly as he looked at Melanie on her prom night, her eighteenth birthday, even back to her first steps, something which her mother had never cared to document or be interested in.

"It wasn't your fault," Hershel said quietly, "It was my sisters. You can make up for it now, be there for her."

"I don't think she needs me anymore," Phillip said as he looked at the cell where Melanie was sleeping, with Daryl watching over her.

Hershel patted his shoulder gently. "A girl always needs her father, whether she shows it or not."

Phillip gave him a small smile and continued to look through the photos when he saw a photo of Daryl and Melanie in a bar. They were laughing and Daryl had his arm wrapped around Melanie tightly in the photo.

"He loves her." He said looking at the photos.

Hershel chuckled quietly. "He spent enough time around my house with Melanie that I worked that out for myself a long time ago," he said as he smiled down at the photographs, fond memories in his head of the times they had been taken. "What do you think of him? You are Mel's father after all; it's a father's job to judge their daughter's man."

"I think he's a good man, he's dangerous but won't let anyone hurt her or the group." He said thoughtfully.

Hershel nodded. "I think you've got it exactly spot on. See, you're becoming a good father to Mel already," he said with a small smile.

Phillip smiled at that and leaned against the armchair he was sitting in and sighed.

"Fucking Eve."

Hershel nodded in understanding. "She was a terrible mother to her," he said quietly, thinking of the times that Melanie would come to him needing stitches, or needing a burn wound attended to. Daryl had told him how Melanie had been made to pay the bills, and give all her extra money to her mother, so she and her boyfriends could feed their drug and alcohol addiction, which meant Mel, was often left cold and hungry.

Phillip looked at him then, "Do you think she's alive?" He asked his brother in law.

"I'm not sure." Hershel admitted.

"But she didn't have much interest in her daughter before the world ended, so I doubt she is going to have now," Hershel added quietly. "Don't worry about it. Melanie has a family here who love her, and will protect her, whether or not Eve gets in the way of it."

Phillip gave him a small smile, happy that his brother in law didn't blame him for what had happened. "Thank you, Hershel."

"No problem." He said giving him a small smile as they saw Judith coo at them.

"She's a wonderful child," Phillip said with a smile as he looked at Judith. "It's a shame she has to grow up in such a... horrible world."

"It is, but she has all of us and her father and Carl." Hershel said smiling as they watched Judith play.

"I just can't imagine how hard it must be to protect her, when she's still at such a young age," Phillip said quietly. He had a hard enough time with Penny, and he had still failed her.

"It is hard but we manage." Rick said as he came in and picked up Judith who giggled at him.

Phillip smiled at him, as he sat down, wondering what it was that made his brother want to attack this place and these people. They were good people, not the enemies he had made the whole town of Woodbury, including himself, believe that they were. Sure, they could be dangerous, but only if their family was in danger.

"Is yer brother gonna leave us alone?" Merle asked as he had his arm wrapped around Carol.

Phillip bit down on his bottom lip. Brian was a stubborn man, and when he wanted something he got it. But really, he did care for his family, and if he knew his niece was in danger, then hopefully he would back down. "I'm not sure," he said quietly, "But I could talk to him I guess, make him see that we should be working together rather than fighting. There's much worse people out there, dead and alive, than you lot. We could help each other, rather than fight each other."

They all nodded as Dale stepped inside the cell block looking upset.

"You killed two innocent people!"

"They were far from innocent, old man," Merle mumbled, wondering if Dale was blind and deaf, or if he had just not realized what they had done. "They attacked and raped a girl who is like a sister to me! They ain't anythin' close to innocent."

"She was probably willing to have sex with them." Dale pointed out as Carol got up.

"Dale, there are signs of sexual assault on her body along with multiple stab wounds."

Merle just glared at him in disbelief. "Ya call yourself the last humane person between us all?" he snapped. "Well ya know what? That was low, Dale, real low. Ya should be ashamed of yourself."

Dale didn't say anything as he looked at Andrea, hoping she would back him up.

"Andrea back me up."

Andrea shook her head. "They're right Dale. They deserved what they got for what they did to Melanie," she said quietly, unable to believe that the friendly man who had been Dale was becoming unrecognizable. She seen Phillip give her a small smile of thanks and returned it, before sitting down on a chair next to him.

Merle nodded. "Yer lucky my brother didn' hear that," he said to Dale, knowing Daryl would have been furious at someone trying to justify Michonne and Drake's actions. "Otherwise ya'd be dead, along with those two animals we killed."

"Daryl is no better," Dale said coldly. "I thought he was a decent man, but after what he did to that kid Randall, and then Drake, I'd be surprised if he didn't kill Melanie next."

"He would never hurt me, Dale." Melanie called out as she came out of her cell with Daryl holding her up.

"You don't know that." Dale told her.

"I do know that," Melanie said as she struggled over to the seating area, before collapsing down onto one of the chairs, and trying to catch her breath before she could speak again. "Daryl would never lay a finger on me, I trust him with my life," she said, glaring at Dale. She didn't want to make an enemy already, but it looked like it was going that way.

"I would never hurt Melanie." Daryl said angered at Dale as Rick looked at Dale.

"We know that," Rick assured him, not wanting a fight to break out. "What's done is done now, and we can't turn back time. Michonne and Drake are dead, and that's the end of it."

"They're dead?" Melanie asked shocked, but feeling a sense of relief, as she looked around the room. "How?"

"Me and Daryl killed them." Phillip said looking at her as Daryl sat down next to her.

"Thank you, both of you." Melanie said touched as she lightly touched Daryl's cheek.

"What'd I tell ya? Ya don't need to thank me for anythin'," Daryl said softly, as he took her hand in his. Gently, trying not to hurt her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close to him, as the others watched on, seeing a side to Daryl that was unfamiliar to them.

He held her to him tightly and kissed her forehead gently as the others watched in a moved silence.

Carol smiled softly at them as she got up to go and cook something for dinner. They didn't have the most supplies, or the largest variety of food, but it was enough to stop them from starving and that's all that mattered. Beth followed behind to help, while the others were watching Judith.

* * *

"I'm glad she's getting better." Beth said relieved.

"She's got her family to help her through, especially now she has her father back," Carol said softly, as she started to boil some rice on the little stove that Axel had set up for them to use.

Beth nodded as they started to cook dinner as they talked quietly.

"We managed to call Melanie before the lines went down."

"What happened to her?" Carol asked interested. "How did she get separated from her family?"

"She was working in New York as a journalist when this happened and was on her way to meet us when the transport went down. She managed to call us and told us not to worry about her, that she'd be ok and to tell Daryl. I think she called him because when he was at the farm, he asked us if we'd heard from her." Beth said quietly.

"Daryl was going out of his mind when he couldn't find her," Beth added, remembering how he had insisted they went out and look every day. "And that was when your group turned up. Merle convinced Daryl that she was probably dead, and to let it go, before he ended up getting killed."

"We all thought she was alright though, when Daryl found her then this happened."

"We couldn't have known what Michonne and Drake were going to," Carol said softly. "It's no ones fault but theirs,"

"I know, but maybe if I'd stayed with her none of this would have happened." She said sadly as they finished cooking and headed back to the main room where they saw to their delight that Melanie was talking to Andrea and Daryl as a smiling Phillip watched.

"She seems to be doing much better already," Carol said smiling as she handed out plates of dinner to everyone, Phillip and Milton too, whom she assumed were going to be staying around for a bit. She paused in front of Melanie. "Are you up to eating something, sweetie?"

"Yes, I am thank you." She said softly and gratefully took the plate as they all began to eat and Carol saw knife wounds on her arms and wrists from where Michonne and Drake had attacked her with their swords.

She looked up and noticed Carol was looking at her. She tried to pull down the sleeves of her cardigan to cover up her wounds, ashamed of what they had done to her.

"This isn't you're fault, sweetheart." She said softly and Melanie felt moved at her compassion and rolled up the sleeves so they could get air.

"Thank you, Carol." She said softly.

Daryl watched her carefully, his eyes on her like a hawk, and scared anything was going to happen to her again. He didn't want her to feel he was invading her space, but he didn't want to let her out of his sight. She finished her bowl of rice and set it down to the side. "Ya got enough to eat there?" Daryl asked as he left a little of his incase she wanted more.

"Plenty, I just need to eat a little bit and to take it easy on my stomach." She said softly giving him a soft smile when Axel spoke.

"What was your job before the dead walked?"

"I was a journalist," she said smiling as she thought of her old life and how things had been before the dead walked. "For a newspaper in Georgia, but it was pretty cool, I got to travel around quite a bit, meet a lot of different people."

"Until ya got death threats from drug dealers and gangs threatenin' ta kill ya if ya didn't stay out of their way." Merle said smiling at the memory.

"I wasn't scared." She said shrugging.

Merle chuckled at her, smiling as he thought of the old days. "Yeah right, ya practically hid in the house for about three days before ya'd venture outside again."

"You lived with Daryl and Merle?" Phillip asked, wanting to know as much about his daughter's life as he could.

"Yeah, I lived with them after Eve and I had a falling out of sorts so I packed my stuff and they invited me to stay round there." Melanie said smiling faintly.

"Are you sleeping with the three of them?" Dale asked her sharply.

"Dale." Carol was horrified.

Melanie looked at him, and she felt Daryl tense up at her side. "I'm sorry Dale, but I don't think that has anything to do with you." she said quietly, not wanting to start an argument. She held Daryl's hand and squeezed it tightly.

He squeezed her hand back and shot Dale a murderous look when Merle spoke calmly.

"I've already got a woman and it ain't Mel." He said pulling Carol into him as they all looked on shocked.

Melanie raised her eyebrows and looked at Daryl as they both exchanged confused looks, but she smiled at them anyway as Merle and Carol just announced more or less that they were together. "That's nice to see," Melanie said softly as she smiled at Merle. As much as he could be annoying at times, he had looked out for her, and been there when she was down.

"I'm for yer Merle." Daryl said as everyone congratulated them and hugged them as well.

Melanie smiled at Daryl shyly.

Daryl looked at her and smiled softly. "It's nice to see Merle has someone. Didn' think he'd ever find anyone to put up with his shit."

"Neither did I, I'm so glad he's with Carol. She's very kind and compassionate." She said leaning against him as she drifted to sleep.

Daryl smiled down at her. "I think it's bedtime for this one," he said softly as he scooped her up into his arms as gently as he could to take her to her cell. "I'm gonna head to bed too, night," he said as he left the sitting room area they had made in the prison and carried Mel to her cell. He set her down gently on the bunk and pulled the blankets up around her, before sitting her teddy bear down beside her. "Goodnight, Mel," he whispered quietly as he kissed her forehead, and left the room, going through to his own cell for the night.

She smiled as she fell asleep, hoping that she wouldn't have nightmares this time.

* * *

_She did have nightmares, nightmares of Eve abusing her with cigarettes, Michonne attacking her with her katana and Drake raping her over and over again as she screamed for Daryl to help her and tried to get Drake off of her._


	6. Keep Holding On

Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again but will he be able to raise Melanie from the ashes with the help of a former enemy? – Co – Written with HersDixon. Daryl/OC, Merle/Carol, Brenda/Hershel, Rick/Rowan, Phillip/Andrea, Carl/Beth.

Ashes And Dust

Chapter 6

* * *

She woke up breathing heavily, feeling sweat dripping down her forehead, as she tried hard not to cry. She could let this break her. She was safe now in this prison. Her mother was gone, and she had her father back. Michonne and Drake were dead and they couldn't hurt her anymore. She took a deep breath as she looked down at her favorite teddy bear and cuddled into it,

She sighed and put down the teddy bear as she stepped onto the cold floor and headed out of the cell, she needed some air.

She grabbed her scythe and headed outside, she must look strange holding a scythe in her hands, wearing only a pair of black sweats and a black tank top.

She walked around with no particular destination in mind, just taking in her new surroundings and where she was in the prison. She walked around the yard and seen three gravestones with wooden crosses. She took a walk over to them and looked at them. One had a Cherokee rose sitting in front of it; Daryl had told her the story that related to them when they were younger. She briefly wondered who it was for, before she got up again and continued walking.

She walked a while near the fence and saw walkers snarling at her through the fence as she got closer to them and looked at their decaying faces.

She shoved the tip of her scythe into the walker's head, fracturing his skull as he fell to the floor dead. She felt a bit better.

She did it again a few more times, the more walkers that fell to the ground the better she felt. When she got to the last walker she froze. She knew that face all too well; it was the one that haunted her nightmares. "Drake," she gasped as she stared at him, his body almost eaten beyond recognition, but she was still able to make out who he was. She took a deep breath before ramming the blade of her scythe into his skull, and watching as he fell to the ground lifeless. "You can't hurt me anymore," she said coldly as she looked at his body and shivered in the cool night air. "I hope you rot in hell for what you and your sister did."

She watched the moon illuminate the prison and sighed softly as she headed back inside and decided to read one of her Lynda La Plante books of Anna Travis and got back into her cell as she read and felt someone watching her when she looked up to see it was Daryl.

"What were ya doin' outside?" he asked worried, but not wanting to seem like he had been stalking her, as he hung around in her doorway.

"I just needed to take a walk, clear my head, get some fresh air, you know? I've been stuck inside for the past couple of days," she added quietly.

"I get it." He said softly as he sat down next to her and pulled her into him as she sighed liking the compatible silence as they just simply held each other.

"Daryl, thank you for being here." She said resting her head against his chest as she listened to his heartbeat.

"I'm always gonna be here," he said softly as he pulled the blanket up around the two of them. "Ya know, when all this shit started, an' I lost ya, I didn't know what to do with myself. When Merle told me ya were probably dead, I knew he was wrong. I could feel it. I knew ya were alive."

"I knew you were alive, I could just tell you were alive." She said softly leaning against him as she stroked his calloused hands.

He stroked her black wavy curls gently, he loved her hair.

She cuddled into him, feeling much safer than she had done lately wrapped up in his strong arms. "I knew I'd find you again Daryl," she smiled. "You couldn't get rid of me that easily."

"I know and ya can't get rid of me that easy too." He said as Melanie fell asleep and he smiled down at her softly as he too fell asleep.

* * *

Merle sat down in the kitchen area as he had a cup of coffee that Beth had made for him, while she sat down and played with Judith, who seemed to be happy enough. Carol came in and began to cook them some eggs that they had for breakfast. Merle looked up at Carol and gave her a smile. "Have ya seen my brother this morning? I was going to ask him if he wanted to go on a huntin' trip, but he ain't in his cell."

"He's with Melanie, they're both asleep." Andrea said as she came in and sat down next to Beth as Judith waved at her.

"We're here now." Daryl's voice said.

Merle turned around to see Daryl walk in with his arms around Melanie, supporting her up, as he gently set her down into a chair and Carol handed them some breakfast. "So whaddya say, baby brother? You up for a huntin' trip this mornin'? See if we can get us some meat for dinner before we all waste away to nothin'."

He looked at Melanie who smiled at him softly as he sat down on a chair at the table.

"You go, I'll be fine." She reassured him softly.

"Ya sure?" He asked quietly.

"I'm sure Daryl," she said quietly. "Your group needs you, not just me. Besides, I have Uncle Hershel, Maggie and Beth. And dad is here too," she assured him.

Daryl nodded "Alright, yer take it easy ok." He said rubbing her arm gently as they continued eat the food.

Once they were finished breakfast, Merle and Daryl got ready for their hunting trip, with Daryl checking he had plenty of arrows and his crossbow was ready to go. They said goodbye to everyone and headed out as Mel turned to Maggie. "Hey, Mags? I was wondering... if you would help me shower. I still can't do much myself, but I feel disgusting. I haven't been able to shower since... y'know." She trusted her cousin, and wouldn't feel as embarrassed with her helping. "If you don't mind?"

"I don't mind at all, Mel." Maggie assured her cousin as they headed to the showers and on the way; Maggie got some clothes for Melanie as well.

"Here you go, let's help you out of the t-shirt." Maggie said gently and they managed to get off the t-shirt and Maggie felt her eyes burn with tears as she saw Melanie's scarred torso and arms.

"It's not pretty, I know," Melanie said quietly, as she tried to turn her body away to hide the marks. She took off her sweatpants and threw them to the side, and Maggie seen more markings on her legs, including the 'D' that had been cut into her, leaving a faint scar. She didn't say anything else, just turned the water on for Melanie, and left her to get out of her underwear and shower in privacy, while she went to wait out the door.

Melanie headed under the hot water and gritted her teeth as the water went onto her wounds and felt her shoulders shake with sobs as she cried.

The water damped her black wavy curls and her fringe, she watched as the bloody water swirled around the drain.

She washed the blood away and scrubbed at her skin, trying to remove all last traces of Drake and Michonne, as she took a deep breath, trying her best to be strong. They were dead; she wouldn't let them hurt her anymore. She sighed as she leaned against the shower wall, as the stinging eventually subsided, and she relaxed under the water.

She washed her hair next with the shampoo and conditioner that Beth had given her and after doing that, she combed her thick, black curls and turned off the shower as she dried herself and pulled on the clean panties and bra along with the jeans, black socks and her blue cashmere sweater.

She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, as she left the bathroom and went to rejoin the others.

* * *

"So, you and Carol, huh?" Daryl asked with a smirk as he and Merle walked through the forest looking for something for dinner. It was a strange subject to discuss with Merle, something he never thought he would be doing.

"Yeah, she's a good woman. How are ya and Melanie?" He asked Daryl.

"We're doing ok; I just wish I could help her more." Daryl said firing an arrow at a racoon.

Merle looked at his brother and gave him a small smile. "Just be there for her, she's gonna take a while before she's back to herself. But don't get in her space if she don't want ya there," he added, and Daryl wondered where he had this sudden knowledge from. "What's the deal with the two of ya anyway? Ya manned up yet and told her that ya don't just think of her as a friend?"

Daryl shook his head. "She is my friend and I don't wanna mess with that. Things were fine how they were before the dead started walkin'."

"One day, yer gonna end up telling her yer love her and she'll do the same." Merle said as they continued to hunt.

Soon they had found three squirrels, two pheasants and four racoons.

"Ya think this is going to be enough to keep us going?" Merle asked as he looked at their findings. It seemed to be a lot, but truthfully, once it was divided up between everyone, there wasn't much there at all, and soon they would find themselves out on another hunt. "I mean now we have three extra mouths to feed and everythin, if Phillip and Milton are gonna be stickin' around."

Daryl shrugged. "It should be. We can always come back out again if need be," he said as they picked up their food.

Merle nodded and they headed back to the prison.

Melanie was helping Beth look after Judith with Carl when he smiled at her and picked up Judith who cooed at him.

"Would you like to hold her?"

Melanie froze as she looked at Carl with wide eyes. "Uh... I don't know," she said quietly, still feeling a little nervous around these people, apart from Beth and Maggie whom she had practically grown up with. "I've never really had much experience with children, I wouldn't like to hurt her," she said softly, hoping that would get her out of it.

"You won't hurt her," Carl assured as he walked over to Melanie with Judith and placed her gently into her arms, careful not to hurt Melanie. Melanie let out a shaky breath as she looked down at Judith, who cooed back up at her. "See? She likes you," Carl said smiling along with Beth.

Melanie smiled back at them warmly as she bounced Judith gently in her arms and Judith giggled at her as she stared at her with curious eyes.

"Hello, Judith." She said softly as she stroked her dark brown locks and couldn't help but smile at the beautiful baby.

"She's beautiful," she said with a small smile as she handed her to Carl. "You have a wonderful little sister there," Melanie smiled softly.

"Thank you." Carl said moved and smiled at her as Melanie ruffled his hair affectionately.

"How long have you guys been here?" She asked him.

"A couple of months or so now," Carl said thinking back to when they had found this place after their hard winter. "We had been on the road for a while after we had been staying at your Uncle Hershel's house."

Melanie nodded. "At least you found somewhere reasonable safe anyway."

"Yeah, I'm glad we did." He said as Judith began to fuss and he gave her the bottle of formula when he spoke quietly.

"Do you blame us for what happened?"

Melanie shook her head. "No. No, of course I don't. I blame Michonne and Drake for what happened," she said, sad that Carl thought she blamed them. "But they're gone now, and they won't hurt any of us anymore."

He gave her a small smile of thanks and she returned it as she played with Judith who seemed happy with her new play mate.

"How old is she?" She asked him softly.

"She's just around a month old," Carl said quietly, memories of the day their mother gave birth and died still fresh in his mind. It still hurt him like hell. "She's getting big already though, she really is gonna be a Lil' Ass Kicker," he added smiling.

Melanie chuckled. "Where did she get that name from?"

"Daryl gave it to her when he was feeding her and she liked the name." He said smiling as Phillip and Hershel joined them.

"I can't imagine Daryl feeding her," Melanie said with a small chuckle as her uncle sat down next to her. "Kids used to annoy the life out of him, especially when they were that age. He'd say all they ever did was scream and shit their pants," she laughed, smiling at the times she used to spend with Daryl and they would just talk for the whole day.

Beth laughed "Not this time, god remember Mrs Howard's kids and how they would harass the whole school when it was the holidays?" She asked her cousin who laughed.

"Poor Carter ended up shitting his pants after Daryl told him to keep his hands to himself." Melanie said remembering the memory.

"I think he was scared of getting punched." Beth said as Judith farted and an awful smell wafted through the air.

Carl scrunched his face up. "I see what Daryl was talking about now," he said with a small chuckle.

Beth laughed as she picked Judith up. "I think it's about time for a diaper change right now, little lady." she said as they walked through to the other room, with Judith giggling.

Phillip chuckled "Melanie was a quiet baby, she loved being cuddled and listening to me, Hershel, Annette and Maggie reading stories to her. You were such a cute baby." He said smiling as Andrea came back from watch.

Melanie laughed. "I'll take your word for it," she said quietly, as she seen Andrea sit down beside Phillip. She could tell there was, or there had been something between them and smiled, seeing them both happy would be nice. And Merle and Carol had found each other too; it seemed that no one wanted to be on their own. She sighed quietly, as they all sat in peaceful silence,

Andrea looked at Melanie with a friendly smile, "How old are you Mel?" She asked softly.

"I'm twenty four years old." Melanie said thinking back to her birthday.

"I'm sixteen." Carl said quietly.

"I'm seventeen going on eighteen." Beth said softly.

"I'm thirty two." Daryl called out as he and Merle came in.

"Thirty nine," Merle added as he sat down beside Carol and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closely to him.

Melanie looked up at Daryl and seen the things he had brought back from his hunting? "Can I help you with that?" she asked softly. She had loved going out hunting with them, even better when Merle was passed out or hungover, and it was just the two of them.

* * *

"Sure ya can, sweetheart." He said as she got up and they headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

"How are ya?" He asked softly.

"I'm doing a little better thanks." she said with a small smile, as they prepared the brothers' catches for cooking. "Especially now that y'know, Michonne and Drake are dead."

"I'm glad." He said softly and lightly kissed her cheek and she stroked his hair gently, feeling the softness of it as they prepared the food.

"You're a good man, I don't deserve you." She said sadly.

Daryl looked at her as he cupped her face in his hands. He could see her sadness and it was killing him. "Yer right, Melanie. Ya don't deserve me. Ya deserve much more than me, more than I ever gave ya." he said quietly, as his rough thumb brushed over her cheek.

"I don't want you to leave me." She said touching his face, how long had she dreamed of his face at night.

He smiled down at her softly, he looked at her grey eyes that sparkled with emotion for him, and she was his woman.

"I'll help yer through this, we all will." He promised as he pulled her into his arms.

"I know you will," she said as she rubbed his back gently. Even just being around him was comforting, something which she has missed for a long time. She pulled back and ran her fingers over his cheek, before they brushed over his lips. There was so much he wanted to tell her, but he let his eyes say it instead as he kissed her gently, careful not to hurt her. She gave him a soft smile before turning her attention back to the squirrel. "Let's finish getting dinner ready, shall we?"

He smiled down at her as they finished skinning the squirrel and Melanie rubbed some spices over the meat before putting it in the oven to cook.

"Yer a good cook." Daryl said as they headed back.

She let out a small laugh. "My Aunt Annette used to teach me some things when I was staying over," she said, remembering the days that she would spend in the kitchen with Beth and Maggie. "My mom never really taught me anything... but, you know that already." Daryl had been the only person she had discussed her mother in depth with. Hershel, Maggie and Beth knew about her, but they didn't know all the details of what happened, or all the things she had done. But Daryl knew everything. "Plus, I got a little more experience when I had to cook for you and Merle."

"Yer food is to die for." He said as Beth came in with Judith who cooed at them all as Beth handed her to Daryl who smiled down at her.

"Hey, little Ass kicker."

Melanie sat down and she looked up at Daryl, who was completely different around Judith, than the last time she had seen him anywhere near a baby. "Your opinion on kids has certainly changed quite a bit," she said with a small laugh, as Daryl rocked the infant in his arms.

"Yeah, she grows on yer, this little sweetheart." Daryl said as Judith laughed and grabbed his goatee.

Melanie smiled softly at the pair as Daryl sat down next to her with Judith in his arms. "I think she wants to see you," he smiled as Judith waved her arms out for Melanie. She nodded nervously as Daryl placed Judith into her arms, and supported her to hold Judy up.

"Hello, sweetie." She said as Judith grabbed at her hair and laughed at her happily, waving her arms in the air as she giggled.

Melanie chuckled as Judith wriggled in her arms happily and cuddled into her. In a matter of minutes, Judith was knocked out, and her small snores filled the room, as Melanie rocked her gently, stroking her little tufts of hair. "Yer good with her," Daryl said softly, as he watched the two of them.

"She's sweet and you know I love children." Melanie said softly as she thought of her dreams of having a large family with five or six children running around.

She could still have that, she could dream and hope she could.

She smiled at Daryl as they headed to the cell block to put Judith in her crib when Rick came by and smiled at the three of them.

"How are you doing?" He asked Melanie gently.

"I'm alright," she said quietly as she looked at him. "I could do with having a nap though; my legs get a little sore if I'm moving around too much."

Rick nodded. "That's alright. We don't expect you to be up and around too much anyway," he said in understanding.

"Thank you." She said softly and after putting Judith in her crib, Daryl helped her to her to her cell which was next to his and she sagged on the bed. She looked tired but had more colour in her face and her eyes sparkled.

He helped her out of her clothes and she shied away a little, hiding herself under the blankets. He smiled sadly down at her as she picked up the teddy Beth had given her and set it next to her. "Need me to read ya a bedtime story?" Daryl asked jokingly as he pulled the blankets up around her.

"I'm a bit too old for that." She said smiling at him lightly as she curled up in the blankets and looked at him softly.

"My best friend." She said softly and fell asleep.

"Yer my best friend too," Daryl whispered as he leaned down to kiss her cheek gently, before he got up and left the cell.

* * *

Dinner had been served and Carol had saved Melanie a plate for later as Daryl ate his in silence when Glenn looked at him.

"How's Melanie?"

Daryl sighed as he looked at the cell where she was asleep. Sure, she was doing a little better, but she was still nowhere near herself. Nowhere near the Mel that he knew before all this. "She's doing OK, I guess. I just wished she'd be back to herself, her old self. Y'all woulda loved her if ya had met her before."

"We already love her; she just needs time to recover." Carol said gently as the others nodded and Daryl thought of how Melanie had impacted his life.

He would never let anything happen to her again, he would protect her and she could defend herself.

He sat and finished his dinner as the others chatted away, Phillip and Milton happily joining in the conversation.

"Ya alright, baby brother?" Merle asked Daryl, noticing how quiet he was.

"I'm alright, I'm just glad Melanie's letting me in." He said quietly.

Merle smiled at him. "I don't think she could kick you out even if she wanted to. The two of ya were practically joined at the hip before this, so I don't imagine things would be any different now."

"Thanks Merle." He said softly as he headed outside to take watch with Dale following behind him. As they all looked on.

"Is he ok?" Sasha asked quietly.

"I don't know," Rick said quietly, keeping an eye on Dale after the little outburst he had the other day. "But Daryl can handle himself, I just wouldn't like to be Dale if he says something to wind Daryl up."

They all nodded and continued to talk.

* * *

"Daryl, is it alright if I talk to you about Melanie?" Dale asked him.

Daryl looked at him as he sat in the watchtower, gripping onto his crossbow. "That depends," he said quietly as Dale sat himself down beside him. "Are ya gonna piss me off again?"

"Sort of." Dale admitted.

"Daryl, I think Melanie lied about being raped. I think she wanted to have sex with Drake but it got too heavy handed and well, there we go." He said looking at Daryl whose face had gone dark with rage.

Daryl pulled out his knife, and in a moment, not thinking what he was doing, he held the knife to Daryl's throat. "She didn't want him to touch her! She didn't even know him!" he snarled, backing Dale up against a wall. "And if you talk about my woman like that again, I won't hesitate to feed ya to the walkers like I did with the sick bastard that laid his hands on my girl!"

Dale swallowed hard as he looked at Daryl who pulled away from him and watched as he hurried out of the watch tower and back to the prison.

"Idiot," Daryl mumbled as he sat back down on his seat and looked out over the prison yard. He sighed tiredly, and tried to get his mind of Drake and Dale.

He thought of Melanie and how he would watch her sleep in the bed they shared in his bedroom along with his shirts in the mornings. Waking up in the morning and simply watching her sleep was beautiful.

There was the occasional morning when she would get up early and bring him breakfast and they would just sit in bed and talk the whole day, cuddled into each other, not interested in anything else.

He closed his eyes as he remembered all the days they would spend together at his place along with the fact that they slept together.

He could still remember it, that day when he had been desperate with need and she let him handle her rough, she knew he wouldn't hurt her.

* * *

_Daryl came back into the house after a particularly bad day at work. His boss had been giving him shit the whole day, and he had been ready to quit there and then. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had to pay the bills then he probably would have done. He slammed the door once he got home, and sulked down onto the sofa, when Mel came in; she had been in the bathroom cleaning._

_"What's wrong?" she asked, noticing his mood, which was anything but happy._

_"My fuckin boss that's what." Daryl said throwing his denim jacket with the angel wings off as it was way too fucking hot as Melanie pulled out two beers for them._

_"Want to talk about it?" She asked as she sat down next to him, she was wearing a black cotton dress with purple flowers on it, it stopped around above her knees and Daryl felt himself harden._

_"Not really," he swallowed as he took the beer from her and took a long drink. "Where's my son of a bitch brother?"_

_"He went out to the bar," Mel said quietly as she lay back on the sofa. "He said he needed a drink, not to expect him back anytime soon. So what did your boss do that's got you so pissed off?" she asked, ignoring his avoidance of discussing the subject._

_"Fuckin was on my case because I told one of the customers that his engine was busted and that he needed a new, only it costed one hundred dollars and he threw a fit." He said feeling pissed._

_"That sucks." Melanie said rubbing his arm._

_Daryl nodded and drank his beer as he turned to her with a mischievous look in his eyes. "Wanna help make me feel better?"_

_She smirked at him, knowing what it was but played along._

_"What do you want me to do to make you feel better, Dare?" She asked huskily to him and Daryl smirked at her._

_"I wanna be inside ya," Daryl replied, his eyes dark with desire as he looked at her body and pushed her back against the arm of her sofa. Daryl lifted up her dress, not even having enough patience to get it off her. He needed this now; he needed the relief, the distraction. He leaned down to kiss her as his fingers slipped into her panties and pulled them off, throwing them onto the floor. "Someone's eager," she said chuckling, but he silenced her with another kiss._

_"Less talkin'," Daryl instructed as he shoved a finger into her roughly and she gasped, as her hips bucked against him. "Always so wet for me, ain't ya?" he whispered into her ear, his hot breath tickling her neck, as his teeth scraped over the skin there. He slid his finger in and out, and she moaned and squirmed against him._

_"Daryl... upstairs," she panted, as her fingers wound into his hair, and tugged his head up so she could kiss him._

_"Nah, here's good," he smirked, as he undid his belt buckle and the zipper on his jeans, before he pulled them down his legs, along with his boxers. He was rock hard, and couldn't wait. He needed her now. "Like ya said, my brother ain't gonna be back anytime soon," he said as he pulled her underneath him and rolled on top of her, before sliding his hard length into her without warning. She certainly hoped to god Merle wouldn't walk in now._

_She moaned and shifted, rocking her hips to take him deeper and he groaned in appreciation. He pressed his whole body against hers before he pulled out and pushed back in, so hard that she lost all sense of anything, apart from the man on top of her. She felt his hands reach underneath her and grab her ass to keep her still, as he began to pound into her roughly. She couldn't keep up with him, but let him do his thing, pushing her further into the sofa with every thrust. It was a sweet kind of pain, that had her wanting more, and her hands scratched at his back._

_Every time he thrust back into her he seemed to become even longer, wider and harder inside her and she moaned in pleasure, while Daryl was constantly growling her name into her hair. Nothing seemed to matter to Daryl apart from this moment, right here, right now._

_Daryl's hard thrusts meant it didn't take long for her to go over the edge, and she bit down on his skin as the most powerful orgasm of her life hit her, her body shaking violently underneath him, as little fireworks went off behind her eyelids. Daryl kissed her hard as he felt his own release approach, and all the stress of the day just seemed to go out the window in the moment he came, his body jerking above her, and he let out a groan, before he emptied himself into her, and held her tightly to him, breathing heavily._

_"Feel better now?" she asked breathlessly as she stroked his cheek gently._

_"Much, better thank ya." He said leaning into her touch as he saw her beautiful, naked body bare for him. She was his and he was hers, god he would never get enough of as long as he lived._

_"Didn't hurt ya, did I?" He asked softly playing with her hair._

_"No, you didn't," she assured him as she smirked up at him. "Although I think we might have just discovered the perfect stress relief method for when either of us has a bad day."_

_He smiled down at her._

_Melanie ran her hands up and down his muscled chest, feeling the scars he had received from his father._

_"You're beautiful." She said softly._

_Daryl laughed. "Don't think so," he said quietly as he kissed her softly and they lay tangled up together on the sofa. "Yer beautiful, though."_

_Melanie smiled up at him and cuddled into him as she slowly fell asleep and Daryl watched her chest rise and fall softly._

_"Mine."_

* * *

Daryl sighed as he looked out over the prison yard, wishing they could go back to those times, when he had been a lot happier, and Mel had been, well... Mel. He missed her cheery, lively self, but he knew it was still in her somewhere. He could still see that twinkle in her eye.

She just needed to recover from her ordeal and slowly come back to herself; he would help her all the way. They all would.

She was family.

She was a lot more than that to him. She had more or less saved his life. If he hadn't met her, God knows where he would have ended up or what he would have done with himself. She dragged him out of the dark when no one else cared about him, not even Merle in particular.

He smiled faintly and saw Glenn coming up the ladder to take watch as he sat down next to him and they both looked out.

"How are you holding up?" Glenn asked quietly.

Daryl gave him a small smile. "I'm alright, I guess. Just wish I had a time machine or something."

Glenn nodded in understanding. "I think we all do."

"Dale's pissing me off." He said angered at how much Dale disliked Melanie and felt she was to blame for what had happened.

"Well, Dale is the one who caused us to leave the farm." Glenn pointed out.

"I don't see why Rick keeps him around," Daryl said quietly, deciding they should just dump the old man on the side of the road somewhere. It wasn't like he was a hell of a lot of use to them anyway.

Glenn chuckled at that. "I think it was because he was such a good friend to Rick at the quarry, and when Sophia went missing and everything."

"Yeah, I know." Daryl said looking at the moon.

* * *

Andrea had just finished helping Carol and Maggie washing the dishes when Dale came charging in looking white faced.

"I WANT DARYL AND MELANIE GONE NOW!"

Maggie turned around and glared at him. Dale had certainly changed since the whole Randall incident and certainly not for the better. "I don't think that's your kind of decision to make, Dale," Maggie said firmly as she threw the dishcloth to the side. "You can take it up with Rick, but I'm pretty sure he will tell you that Daryl and Mel aren't going anywhere."

"Daryl just tried to kill me!" Dale said angrily, as he looked at Andrea, hoping she would be on his side.

Carol shook her head, tired of Dale and his rubbish. "Daryl wouldn't just try to kill you for no reason, Dale. He's not like that. You must have done something to anger or upset him."

"All I said was that maybe Melanie willingly had sex with Drake and maybe she got frightened of him when he got too rough on her." He said trying to justify himself in front of them all as Rick came in with Judith.

"What's going on?"

"Dale and Daryl aren't seeing eye to eye," Carol said dryly, as she took Judith from Rick and rocked her gently so the men could talk.

"He held a knife to my throat!" Dale said appalled, hoping Rick would see sense and get rid of him.

"That's what's going to happen if you say something bad about Mel," Maggie added, knowing how protective Daryl was of her.

Rick was silent for a moment as he took in Dale and Maggie's words, he agreed with Daryl on the Drake and Michonne situation.

"I'm with Daryl on this one Dale, you provoked him." He said firmly and Dale snapped.

"You're no leader to this group!" He yelled as Melanie came out with Beth as Daryl came in with Glenn along with Axel. Oscar was on watch with Big Tiny.

"Please stop," Melanie said quietly as she looked between them all. "Please stop fighting over me. If it's causing trouble me being here, then I'll go. I'll go and pack my bags right now," she said, feeling like she was causing problems within the group. "I don't want to mess up what you have here," she added, licking her dry lips as she looked at Phillip. "Dad, maybe I could come and stay with you in... Woodbury?"

Phillip shook his head, he knew this was Melanie's home and didn't want her to leave her friends and Hershel, Maggie, Beth, Merle and Daryl behind.

"This is your home, Mel." He said gently.

Everyone glared at Dale who sighed and looked annoyed.

"Melanie's stayin." Daryl said putting an arm around Melanie and smiled softly when he felt her curl into him.

"Alright, I'll stay." She said smiling softly.

"Alright then," Rick said firmly as he looked over at Dale. "It's settled. No one is going anywhere. Now, we're going to get this all sorted out this minute, if anyone has a problem, speak up now. No more of this going around behind peoples backs, threatening others. It ends now."

Dale glared at them all as no one said anything against what Rick had said and huffed in annoyance.

"I'm starting to think Shane would have been a better leader."

"Yeah, well, Shane's dead, so I'm afraid you're stuck with me," Rick said humourlessly. "And if you have a problem with that Dale, maybe you should be the one who is thinking about leaving. I'm going to bed," Rick finished, and took Judith and Carl as he left the room, still in a bad mood. Dale huffed and went in the opposite direction.

Melanie sighed sadly as she watched Dale go, before she turned to her Uncle Hershel. "Why does he hate me so much? What'd I ever do to him?"

"It's not you sweetie, Dale sees no wrong in no one and believes we should forgive everyone regardless of what they've done." He said as Melanie drank some water.

"He doesn't have children though." Phillip pointed out as he drank some whisky from a silver flask in front of everyone.

Carol nodded. "I'd like to see his opinion change if Drake had done that to a daughter of his own, I'm sure he wouldn't have been so happy about it then."

Daryl watched Phillip before nodding to the flask in his hand. "Ya gonna share that or keep it to yerself?"

"My bad, here." He said passing it to Daryl who had a gulp.

Daryl sighed happily as the liquid ran down his throat. "Ya got no idea how much I missed that," he muttered, the last drink he had being back at Hershel's farm a good few months ago.

Phillip chuckled. "It's handy to keep on you for stressful situations."

"That's true." He said and passed it to Merle who gulped it and then Melanie took the flask from him and looked at it.

"Can I have some?"

Hershel furrowed his eyebrows together. "I don't know, sweetheart, it might make you a little drowsy with the medication you're on."

Melanie nodded. "That's what I was hoping for," she muttered as she took a long drink from the flask, and coughed slightly.

"Easy, easy," Phillip said softly, as he took the flask back. "There's plenty for when you're feeling better, I still have whole cabinets of it. Don't worry."

She nodded and leaned back against Daryl on the sofa as they all talked silently when she looked at him.

"What's Woodbury like?" She asked intrigued.

"It's a nice little village," Phillip said with a small smile. "We have around eighty or so people living there at the minute, we still have quite a few supplies that we keep in a house. We have a doctor, we have some designated 'police' if you will, who guard the area, and it's surrounded by a wall that means no walkers can get in."

Merle looked at him with an unreadable expression. "Apart from the ones yer brother brings in for the arena..."

He sighed "That as well, I'm trying to tell Brian to stop doing it but he won't listen to me." He said thinking on his strained relationship with Brian.

"Is he older than you?" Andrea asked curious despite herself.

Phillip nodded. "Yes, he is a couple of years older than me. He always like to boss me around you know, from when we were little, right up until now."

"Well you can't keep on letting him boss you about." Melanie said looking at him as she ate some of the dinner Carol had saved for her. She had been very hungry.

"How did Penny die?" Dale asked not realising he was touching a sensitive subject.

"She was killed by a gang led by a man called Nate." Phillip said finishing his food as he tried not to think about it.

"How?"

"I don't want to discuss it," Phillip said sharply, as he looked at Dale. "Maybe another time," he said quietly. He thought of how his poor innocent daughter had been attacked by those men, the things they had done to her, before eventually she was killed and left to be a walker. And she was still there, they could have found a cure, and he could have gotten her back, until Michonne had made sure she was dead. He sighed as he got up. "I think it's my bedtime now."

Melanie hesitated for a minute, before getting up and slowly pulling him into a hug. "Goodnight... dad."

"Goodnight, Mel." He said hugging her back and headed to his cell as the others watched on in silence when Milton spoke.

"I think he's changing."

"He has his daughter back," Hershel said with a small smile. "I think he wants to be a good man, for Mel's sake."

"I don't just think it's for me, Uncle Hershel." Melanie said giving Andrea a friendly smile.

"There's nothing going on between us, we're just friends." Andrea said softly.

"Sure yer are, that's why he was looking at ya." Daryl said amused.

Melanie nodded as she saw Andrea's face go red. "Yeah, sure, 'friends'. I give it a year and the two of them will be married," she said as she chuckled quietly.

"You don't mind?" Andrea asked her as they all got ready for bed.

"Why would I? You make him happy and he makes you happy, besides I like you." Melanie said warmly as he grey eyes twinkled with mirth.

"Thank you," Andrea smiled, relieved that Melanie was one less thing she had to worry about in regards to Phillip. "That means a lot to me."

"Not a problem," Melanie said softly, as she got up off the sofa and stretched, feeling her aching muscles have a moment of relief.

She smiled softly as they all headed to their cells and she looked at Daryl briefly before nodding with her decision.

"Would you mind sharing?"


	7. Long Road

Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again but will he be able to raise Melanie from the ashes with the help of a former enemy? – Co – Written with NadWri. Daryl/OC, Merle/Carol, Brenda/Hershel, Rick/Rowan, Phillip/Andrea, Carl/Beth.

Ashes And Dust

Chapter 7

* * *

Daryl tried to hide his happiness, but couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. He had longed to just hold her again, ever since she arrived back at the prison. "I sure as hell wouldn't, sweetheart," he said softly, as he went to find his sleeping clothes from his cell, and went back into her cell. They got ready for bed, and Daryl took off his shirt, exposing the scar on his side, the one from where his arrow had pierced him when he had been out looking for Sophia.

"What happened?" Melanie asked quietly, not remembering that scar being there the last time she had seen him with his shirt off.

"When we were at Hershel's farm, Carol's daughter Sophia went missing and I went looking for her all week. One day one of the horses made me fall off and I fell into a damn creek and got shot with my own arrow to the side." He explained as he got into bed with her.

"What happened to Sophia?" She asked softly as she ran her fingers over the scars.

Daryl sighed sadly. "Otis had been out catching walkers, and putting them in the barn in case a cure was ever found. Sophia must have been bitten or she must have died and turned into a walker, because she was in the barn along with them. We found her when Shane opened the doors. Rick had to shoot her."

"That's awful," Melanie said quietly as she cuddled into his side.

"Weren't right for Carol to see her little girl like that." Daryl said thinking back on that painful day and sighed as he stroked her wavy curls.

"Yer hair's gotten longer." He said looking at the long curls that fell to her back.

She chuckled quietly, as she reached up to push his fringe out of his eyes, and ran her hand through his soft, brown hair. "So has yours. I guess that's what a lack of hairdressers will do for you."

"That's true." He said kissing her forehead tenderly.

"Get some sleep, baby." He said holding her close.

"You get some sleep too." She said falling asleep.

Daryl smiled as he stroked her hair and watched her for a while, before closing his eyes and drifting off too.

For once, they both slept peacefully, now that they were wrapped in each others arms again.

* * *

The next morning Melanie got dressed and took some more of the medication Milton and Hershel had given her with a bottle of water. She didn't want to get addicted to painkillers like Eve who constantly got addicted to drugs.

She was sitting in the kitchen with Andrea as they both washed up the plates from breakfast when she decided to speak.

"How did you meet my dad?"

Andrea smiled at the memories. "After the herd on the farm, I got separated from the group. I saved Carol, but a walker fell on top of me, and everyone assumed I was dead and left. I couldn't really blame them I guess. I ended up in the forest alone, and was almost killed by a walker, but I was saved by... Michonne and Drake," she said quietly, and noticed Melanie's face go a little pale. "Anyway, we were on the road together for about eight months or so, when one day we saw a helicopter going down. We saw people drive up to the helicopter and shoot the walkers, before taking the supplies. One of those people was Merle. He had gotten separated from our group back in Atlanta and found Woodbury. Anyway, Merle took us back to Woodbury, and that was where I met Phillip. He looked after us, and we grew close."

Melanie sighed, trying to take in all the bits of information that Andrea had given her and piece it all together. "Wow, I really do have some catching up to do, don't I?"

"You do, but don't worry you'll catch up." Andrea assured her as they headed outside with the others and Andrea saw Melanie's scythe in a holster across her back.

"Where did you get that?"

"Before I got left alone in the woods, and found the prison and my family again, I was travelling with some other people. All I had was a gun that had run out of bullets at the time when I met them, so one of the guys gave it to me," she said softly, thinking of the people who had helped keep her alive. "I don't know if they are still out there somewhere, or if they were killed too."

"I'm sure they're fine." Andrea assured her.

"What were their names?" Beth asked her softly.

"There was Lee, Clementine, Brenda and her two sons Andy and Danny St John. They had a dairy farm near Uncle Hershel's farm, Carly, Doug, Mark, Lily and her dad Larry, Kenny, his wife Katjaa and their son Duck." She said remembering their faces.

"I hope they're alright," Melanie said quietly. "We were separated when this group attacked the farm we were staying on. They killed our friend Greg, and I don't know what happened to the rest of them. I never saw any of them again after that."

"I'm sure they'll be alright." Andrea assured her softly as they headed outside to the prison yard where the others were.

Everyone was cleaning up walker bodies, putting them into a pile where they could be burned. The sun was blazing down on them and it was rather hot outside. "How are you feeling this morning?" Carol asked kindly.

"A lot better, thank you all of you for being so kind." She said softly as she helped Carol with a dead walker.

"It's not a problem," she said with a smile as they dragged the body into the burning pile.

"Take it easy," Merle said softly, as he watched her. "Yer still injured."

"I'm alright; my leg's not hurting anymore." Melanie said as she saw a Hispanic man looking at her and Carol before skulking off with a black man.

"Who were they?" She asked looking at Merle.

"That was Andrew and Tomas, they were two of the prisoners we found here when we arrived," Carol explained. "Along with Axel, Oscar and Big Tiny. Tomas and Andrew weren't quite as friendly as the other three."

"Are they dangerous?" Melanie asked quietly, worried after what had happened with Drake.

"Not that I know, but we and the three prisoners keep our distance from them and keep Carl, Beth and Judith away." Carol said as they finished cleaning up the yard.

Carol then saw three black stars along her back along with a purple star lily.

"When did you get that?"

Melanie smiled at the tattoo. "A couple of years ago now. I always wanted one, but I was little freaked out about going on my own," she said with a small laugh. "So Daryl came with me, and that's when he got the demon tattoos on his back."

"That's lovely." Carol said smiling at the young woman, she liked Melanie a lot and couldn't help but feel maternal towards her.

"How are you?" She asked Carol as they headed inside the prison for lunch.

"I'm alright, thank you," Carol said softly, as she got out the leftover squirrel from last night. "I have Merle to keep me going."

Melanie nodded. "I've known him for a long time... he might seem like an ass when you first get to know him, but he is a really good man deep down."

"I know he is and I'm glad Daryl has you around. You make him very happy and he makes you very happy, ignore Dale and his morals." Carol said as they set the table and got the plates out as Judith laughed at them.

"Hello, Judy." She said tickling her stomach.

Carol smiled as she watched Melanie bond with the infant, Judith was laughing with glee as Melanie played with her. She was certainly much better around the kids than Carol imagined Lori would have been.

"She's a lovely, sweet baby." She said standing up as Judith fed from her bottle and looked thoughtful, "I hope Rowan's ok."

"Rowan?" Carol asked intrigued, as she set out plates of lunch for everyone.

"She was mine and Daryl's best friend from high school; she was really nice and friendly. Her parents were good people and owned a restraunt in the town; she was never bitchy to me or Daryl and Merle. Eve hated her, Merle and Daryl." She said sighing.

"Was Eve your mother?" Carol asked quietly.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't call her mother of the year."

Carol smiled sadly. "I know it was none of my business, but Merle told me some of the stories of the things that she did. And from what I've heard from Hershel too, she sounds awful."

Melanie nodded. "I'm lucky I found Merle and Daryl, otherwise I might have been dead by now."

"They are too." Carol agreed and Melanie smiled as they se the table.

"Uncle Hershel and Aunt Annette found me in the hospital after one time I was thirsty and ended up finding a bottle of green juice, I thought it was apple juice but it wasn't." She said thinking back to how Maggie and Sean had found her at home only aged seven years old and seriously.

"That's horrible," Carol said upset, as they sat down and waited for everyone else to come in. She had heard the occasional story from Merle and Hershel, but they hadn't told her this one.

Melanie nodded. "We didn't have much money; I couldn't go out to the shops and buy something to drink." The truth was they did actually have the money. It was just that her mother spent it all on drugs and alcohol.

"What was in the bottle?" Carol asked.

"Heroin, I didn't know though and ended up drinking all of it in one gulp. I was that thirsty and I was alright for a few hours until I started feeling sick and that's when Eve arrived home from her latest job as a waitress." She said leaving out the fact that Eve had been with Daryl's father for the whole night.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Carol said softly, as she rubbed Melanie's arm in comfort.

Mel shook her head. "Don't be, I'm still here," she said with a small laugh as the others came in from outside, looking tired and warm from the sun, as they all sat down to their lunch.

"Jesus, it's hot out there." Carl said taking off his hat as Melanie gave him a glass of water and he drank greedily as they heard a car pull up.

"Who could that be?" Carol asked worriedly, and for a second, Phillip panicked, thinking maybe it was his brother who had come looking for him and Milton, no doubt with an army of people for backup.

Sasha got up from the table and looked out the window. "It's a police car," she said confused, as she tried to read the side. "From King's County."

"That's where we're from, dad," Carl said as he looked at his father and held Judith closely to him, just in case they were in danger. It wasn't Shane for sure, because he was lying in a field dead and probably eaten by walkers at this moment in time. "Do you think maybe it's someone you used to work with?" he asked Rick.

"I'm not sure but we'll find out." Rick said as they all went outside and saw a black man come out with a boy around Carl's age.

"Rick?" The man asked shocked.

"Morgan, Duane?"

Rick lowered his gun and ran forward to the man and pulled him into a hug, as the others watched on confused. Duane smiled and joined in the hug, and Carl didn't look like he knew the people, meaning it wasn't someone that he had met before. Rick turned to look at everyone else. "Everyone, meet Morgan and Duane. You remember the people I told you about who saved my life when I woke up out of my coma and didn't know what was going on? This is them!" he said smiling as he looked back at Morgan. "How did you find this place?"

"We heard a group of men talking about ambushing the prison and killing everyone inside including the baby and wanted to warn all of you." Morgan explained as they all headed inside the prison.

"I'm glad you two are ok." Rick said relived.

"What a minute," Daryl said, stepping forward. He wondered if he was the only person who had heard the last part of Morgan's sentence. "Don't wanna break up this little reunion that ya got goin' on here, but what was that about someone ambushing the prison?"

"We were getting supplies and this man called Randall said that a man called Drake had helped find a way into the prison through the tombs and they were going to ambush here and a town called Woodbury. They're going to kill all of the men and... rape the women, get them pregnant and after they've given birth kill them." Morgan explained.

Rick swallowed. "Well that's not good at all," he said worriedly, as he looked at his other men for guidance. "We need to think about the security of the place."

"I should go back to Woodbury," Phillip said quietly, thinking of his town and his people, even his brother although he could be an ass at times. "I need to warn Brian, make preparations. Maybe we could even let your group borrow some of our men," Phillip added. "Martinez already knows Merle and Andrea, and he could be in charge of them, make sure they didn't cause any trouble."

"I want to go with you," Melanie spoke up from where she was standing. "I lost my father once, and I don't want to do it again. Besides, it's not safe for you to be going out there by yourself," she said firmly.

"You stay here with Daryl, its safe for you here and you need him weather you admit it or not." Phillip told his daughter sternly who looked worried but nodded in agreement.

"You're right." She said quietly, she needed Daryl and he needed her.

"Will you come back, dad?" she asked quietly, scared that he was using this as an excuse, and he was only trying to leave her again.

Phillip gave her a small smile as he hugged her tightly. "Of course I will. I'll be back for you. And Andrea," he said with a hopeful smile in Andrea's direction, who blushed bright red. Phillip gave Daryl a quick pat on the back. "I'll bring you back some of that whisky you seemed to enjoy so much. Look after my daughter."

"Ya aint gotta ask." Daryl said nodding at him, "Take care Phillip." He said.

"I will." Phillip said as he headed to the car with Milton.

"So we've got the gang who happen to have Randall back, fucking briliant old man." Merle snapped at Dale.

Dale didn't say anything, just stood looking guilty before he headed inside. "Pathetic," Merle mumbled as he followed him. Everyone headed inside, apart from Melanie who stood in the prison yard, watching her dad drive out of the prison with Milton, and down the road that would take them to Woodbury, where they could warn their people about the group that wanted to attack them.

"Please come back," she whispered quietly, praying they would be alright.

"He'll be alright, yer old man." Daryl said as they headed back inside the prison to eat lunch and they all sat down along with Morgan and Duane.

"Where's your wife, Mr Grimes?" Duane asked innocently.

Rick cleared his throat. "She uh... she died," he said softly. He couldn't be angry with Duane, he wasn't supposed to know. "She died when she was giving birth to my daughter, Judith," he said quietly, as he looked over at the baby.

"I'm sorry, Rick," Morgan said with a sad smile. He knew how it felt to lose your wife.

"It hasn't been easy." Rick said squeezing Carl's shoulder and smiled at Judith as she ended up getting food smeared all over her face, making them laugh.

"What has she smeared on her face?" Sasha asked amused.

"Christ knows," Merle laughed, as Beth picked up a wet cloth and began to gently wipe Judith's face. Beth had become so good with Judith, her and Carol being the only females around who were willing to look after her after Lori had died. Michonne hadn't been interested, and Maggie was busy helping the men fight. "Yer a messy little squirt, ain't ya?"

Judith cooed in response making all the adults smile at her adorableness.

She waved at Daryl and Melanie happily, giggling at them and it melted Daryl's heart watching Melanie interact with Judith, Carl and Duane.

"She's so sweet." Duane said as Judith smiled.

"She is, isn't she?" Melanie said softly, as she tickled Judith's stomach again, her little giggles brightening everyone's mood, even Andrew and Tomas couldn't help but smile at them.

She cooed at them all as she fell asleep in her highchair, holding her dark brown teddy bear happily as Melanie and Beth picked her up and got ready for her nap.

"I'll take her up to her crib," Melanie said softly, feeling a lot more confident around Judith now, as she left the room and went upstairs to Rick's cell.

She smiled down at Judith as the baby snored lightly and she tucked her under the covers in the cot and made sure she was warm enough before leaving.

* * *

"I thought maybe tomorrow we should start rethinking the security around the prison," Rick said quietly, as they all gathered in the canteen area, and decided it was time that they needed to talk about what Morgan had told them earlier. "You know, make sure the fences can't be broken through, put extra people on watch, and secure the gates, that sort of thing?"

"That's a good idea." Merle said nodding at him.

"What do we do if they come here?" Dale asked dreading the answer.

Rick thought about it for a minute. He didn't want to scare anyone, but they didn't really have an option. "We don't have a lot of choice. We fight."

"I want no part in it." He snapped as they all sighed at him acting like a child.

"I'm going out for watch." Rick said and he left to go on watch with Carl as the others went to prepare the prison.

"I just remembered I have some guns and ammo." Melanie said as she headed to her cell where her stuff was and felt a pain in stomach as she sat down breathing heavily.

"Mel?" Beth asked worried.

"I'm OK," Melanie gasped out breathlessly. "I'm OK. Maybe I just need to rest for a bit, I didn't listen to Uncle Hershel and got up too soon," she said, as she felt an awful cramping in her stomach.

"Should I get dad?" Beth asked concerned, and when she seen Mel's face turn pale, she didn't wait for an answer. "I'm going to get dad."

"Beth, something's wrong." Mel groaned as they both saw blood stain Melanie's jeans and she suddenly felt faint.

"Oh no." She said realising what it was.

"What is it?" Beth asked alarmed, and then realization hit her. "Oh my God, Melanie, I..."

"It's OK," Mel gasped out. "I'm going to the bathroom. Don't let anyone in, please," she said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Beth asked feeling her eyes burn with tears for Melanie.

"I'm sure." She said thickly and hurried out of the room to the bathroom, thankful that no one had seen as she locked herself in the bathroom and cried.

"Oh god." She sobbed into her hands.

She felt upset, but at the same time she felt relieved. She would never have wanted Drake's baby.

Did that make her a bad person?"

She heard the door open and saw it was Daryl, his face was pale as he sat down next to her and unable to handle it any longer she told him.

"I lost the baby." She said thickly not wanting to see his expression.

Daryl looked confused for a second. "What baby?" Before he realized, and he felt like he had to run to the toilet to be sick. "Oh shit..."

He reached out to touch her, but she pulled away. "No, Daryl, please..." she sobbed, as she curled up into a ball in the bathroom."Please, just leave me alone." She had told Beth she didn't want anyone here with her, she just wanted to grieve by herself.

"I aint gonna leave yer here on ya own Mel, don't shut me out and Beth didn't tell me. I heard someone crying in here." He said and Melanie cried harder.

"Don't leave."

He pulled her into him before she could protest and she cried into his shirt, as he felt her tears soak through the fabric onto his skin. "Shh, Mel, it's gonna be OK," he said softly, not knowing how he was supposed to comfort her. He didn't really have much experience with this kind of thing.

"It was his baby, but it was mine too I would have loved it." She sobbed feeling her heart break at the thought of losing her baby.

"I woulda loved it too, would help ya take care of it. Hell I would look after the two of yer." Daryl said stroking her thick black wavy locks.

"Do the others know?" She asked as she sniffled.

"No, they don't," he said softly. "Like I said, I only came in here 'cause I heard someone crying. Why didn't ya come and get me? Ya wouldn't had to be alone."

Melanie wiped her eyes in sadness, figuring Daryl would have had no interest in Drake's baby. "I didn't think you'd care. I thought you'd be angry."

"I wouldn't be angry at yer Mel, Christ I would be pissed at that bastard and his bitch who did that to yer and hurt yer." He said hugging her close as he spoke meaning every word.

"Really?"

"Really, Mel," he promised as he rubbed her back gently. "I... really."

"Thank you, Daryl," she said quietly.

She placed a hand on his right cheek and kissed him gently on the cheek as she simply rested against him, feeling safe in his arms.

"Will you help me tell the others?" Melanie asked quietly.

"Of course I will," Daryl said softly, as he looked down at her blood stained clothes. "Ya wanna clean up first? I can go get ya some clean trousers."

"That would be great, thank you." She said softly and Daryl nodded as he kissed her gently on the forehead and headed to their cell as she cleaned herself up.

She felt a bit better.

* * *

She sighed as the blood went down the drain. Maybe Hershel was right and she couldn't carry children anymore. She thought of the children she was going to have and felt upset, maybe she wouldn't get the little girls and boys running around the garden.

She couldn't let this make her vulnerable. If they were in danger like Morgan thought, she needed to be strong.

She nodded and washed her face with cold water as Daryl came in with some clean panties and a pair of black skinny jeans. She smiled at him faintly and he touched her face gently.

"Thank you." She said softly.

"Yer welcome," Daryl said softly, as he brushed his fingers through her wet hair. "Ya ever need to talk to me, then please do," he said quietly, and she nodded. He helped her get dressed again, before he took her hand and they went downstairs into the canteen area. She didn't really want to see anyone, but she couldn't shy away from them, they were only trying to help her. She saw Beth look up at her with sad eyes, but knew Beth would have kept it a secret like she had asked.

She gave Beth a small smile and she smiled back at her as they sat down to eat dinner and Melanie swallowed as she tried to keep calm.

"I need to tell you all something, the reason I was in the bathroom was because ... I had a miscarriage." She said as everyone looked at her with shocked, horrified sad eyes.

"Oh, Melanie, are you OK?" Carol asked as she rushed over to sit down next to her. No one needed to ask, they all knew that Drake would have been the father if she had given birth.

Melanie gave her a faint smile. "I guess I just have to get on with things," she said quietly. "I can't turn back time." She felt a little better that she didn't know she was pregnant before she miscarried. She never had time to form an attachment to her baby, and it probably hurt less than if she did. She was hurting, yes, but it could have been a lot worse.

Merle looked upset as he got up and hugged her. She was like a sister to him, and he cared for her deeply, although he had never admitted it. "I'm sorry, Mel."

"It's alright Merlie, I'll be alright." She said hugging him as Maggie, Beth, Glenn and Hershel came over with the others.

"I'm so sorry Melly." Maggie said hugging her, she was like a big sister to Melanie and to see her go through this was heart breaking.

"Thank you, Maggie," Melanie said softly as she held tightly to Maggie.

"Are you going to be OK?" Hershel asked as he hugged his niece, trying not to cry. He was upset for her, he and Annette had practically raised her when she was younger, and the baby would have been like a grandchild to him.

Melanie sighed softly. "I'm alright. I wish my dad was still here," she admitted, feeling she would have been comforted having him around.

"He'll see you soon." Andrea said hugging her along with Beth, she knew all too well the pain of losing a child as did Carol.

Carl hugged her tightly, "I'm sorry Mel."

"Thank you, Carl," she said softly, as she walked over to Judy. "Hey, little one," she said, crouching down.

As if Judith could sense her pain and sadness, she cooed at her and waved at her as she smiled at the sweet little baby.

Melanie picked up Judith and rocked her gently in her arms, as everyone watched sadly, knowing how much Melanie would have loved her child, and how she would have made a great mother.

"Is it safe for her to be around Judith?" Dale asked nervously.

"What's that supposed to mean, Dale?" Rick asked calmly.

"She just seems a little... unstable," Dale said, as he watched Melanie carefully, his eyes following her around the room.

"She's just lost her baby, for God's sake Dale!" Andrea spat quietly so that Melanie wouldn't hear her. "Show a little compassion!"

"Melanie isn't unstable Dale, she's doing very well." Hershel told him firmly.

"I don't think she's safe." He said firmly.

"I think she's safer and more useful to have around than you," Merle spat, as he glared at Dale.

"Sorry to interrupt," Melanie said quietly, not wanting to intrude the conversation. "I'm going to go to bed now. Goodnight, guys."

"Goodnight, Melanie." They said and watched her walk out of the canteen as she headed to their cell block to rest.

"Will she be ok?" Sasha asked quietly.

"I don't know," Daryl said sadly, as he watched her go. He hadn't seen her this upset in a while. "Things seem to be going backwards rather than forwards. She just starts to get better and then this happens. She don't deserve it."

"She'll be alright, she just needs time to grieve for the baby and she'll be alright. She's a tough little lady." Merle assured his brother as they continued to eat.

"Why do you dislike Melanie so much?" Carol asked Dale.

"She's done nothing but cause trouble since she came here," Dale said quietly as he ate his food. They had been relatively peaceful until she turned up, apart from the incident with Woodbury. "There's been nothing but problems since she arrived."

"It wasn't Melanie who caused the problems Dale that was Drake and Michonne. Don't you dare blame my cousin for this?" Maggie snapped at him.

"If I'm right, Drake caused us problems too." Carol said as they all glared at Dale.

"So you're picking a stranger over me. That's it?" Dale asked stunned.

"Melanie's family." Rick said calmly.

"Melanie's not family," Dale snapped harshly, wondering why they were siding with her rather than him, who they had known for almost a year now since they met at the quarry. "Maybe for Hershel, Maggie and Beth, but not for anyone else."

"She's my family too," Daryl snarled annoyed.

Dale shook his head. "Why is that? Because you hope she'll sleep with you again when she feels up to it?"

"That's not why; she means more to me than just having sex with her." He snarled at Dale as he felt his temper rise.

* * *

Unknown to the others was that Melanie had been listening to them as they argued with Dale and felt something in her deflate as she grabbed her knife and headed to her cell.

She sat on her bed and after looking at the photo of her, Daryl, Merle, Maggie, Beth, Sean Hershel and Annette she started to cut her wrists feeling pain shoot through her as blood dripped onto the beds.

She sobbed quietly, hoping no one would hear her, as she slashed her wrists deeper. While she still could, she looked through her bag and found the pen she kept there, and turned the photo over, writing _'I'm sorry,'_ on the back.

She lay back and dropped the knife to the floor as she began to feel faint from the blood loss, and cuddled her teddy bear tightly. The sooner she was taken away from this hell, the better.

* * *

Everyone was angered at Dale's intense dislike of Melanie and Daryl felt like hitting the man for making Melanie look like a whore when she wasn't.

"If yer make Melanie leave, I go as well." He growled at him.

"We're not going to make her leave," Rick assured him. He would get rid of Dale first, Daryl was his right hand man ever since Shane had died, and he would be in trouble if he lost him. If he lost Daryl, he'd lose Merle, Carol, and probably a lot of other people too. "Don't worry Daryl; she's fine where she is."

Daryl nodded in thanks and went to the cell he shared with Mel; he wanted to see how she was doing.

He entered the cell block and realised that there was a rusty, metallic smell in the air as he neared his and Melanie's cell.

He narrowed his eyes confused, as he walked through the cellblock. He stopped outside his and Mel's cell with a small smile on his face. They would get through this together. Mel was tough, Mel was strong, and Mel was... lying in a pool of blood on her bed. Daryl felt his heart break as he rushed inside. "MEL!"

She didn't answer, her face was white as a sheet and her black wavy curls made her face look eve paler against the sheets.

He tore some of the sheets into strands so he could staunch the bleeding on her writs, they became red almost instantly and he felt his stomach drop.

"Stay with me, Mel please stay with me." He said desperately as he yelled for Hershel.

"HERSHEL, HELP!"

Hershel came running into the cell seconds later, with Carol, Maggie and Rick right behind him. They seen Daryl covered in blood at first, and thought he was the injured one, before they noticed Mel lying on the bed lifeless and bloody. "What happened to her?" Hershel asked horrified as he rushed to her side and tried to stop the bleeding.

Daryl picked up the photo and read the back, before he seen the knife on the floor, and he choked out a sob. "She tried to kill herself."

"Why?" Maggie cried horrified as she helped her dad tend to Melanie's wounds on her wrists as the others hurried in.

"She must have heard Dale talking about her and felt that we'd be better off without her." Daryl said anguish in his voice as he held Melanie's bloodstained right hand.

"We need to do something about Dale." Beth said looking at Rick.

Rick nodded in agreement. "Yes, we do, but right now we need to make sure Melanie is alright. Is she going to be OK?" he asked Hershel.

Hershel shook his head. "I don't know, she cut pretty deep."

Daryl cried quietly into her hair. "What'd I do wrong? I thought she was OK."

"You didn't do anything Daryl; I think what Dale said about her being to blame for all the trouble upset her. Melanie's always been a sweet, lovely girl." Hershel said sadly as he began to stitch his niece's cuts.

Andrea watched sadly as he did, "I know what she's going through, losing her baby like that and everything." She said quietly.

"You were pregnant with Phillip's baby?" Dale asked shocked.

Andrea shook her head. "Not exactly. Before I got separated from the group at the farm, Shane and I, we... y'know. I lost the baby while I was on the road with Michonne and Drake," she said sadly, remembering how she had spent weeks in a dark depression.

"Andrea I'm so sorry." Beth said upset for her friend.

"Don't be, it was a long time ago." She said as Melanie stirred and moaned in pain.

"Mel? Mel! It's me," Daryl said softly, and looked at her, distraught to see that she looked upset to still be alive. "I'm here."

"Daryl?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm here." He said softly and she cried disgusted that she had done something so terrible to everyone.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She wept and Daryl pulled her into his arms.

"Sh, sh we know ya are and it ain't yer fault sweetheart." He assured her.

"I didn't mean to, Daryl, I didn't mean to," she sobbed, and everyone watched sadly as Daryl tried to comfort her.

"I'm here now, and I ain't gonna leave ya," he promised, rocking her gently in his arms.

She nodded and relaxed in his arms as she slowly fell asleep with the others watching sadly as Dale looked into the cell in horror.

"What happened?"

"She tried to kill herself, that's what!" Merle snapped as he got up from the bed and stalked towards Dale. "All because of you and yer damn talk!"

"Leave us alone, guys," Daryl said quietly, as he looked down at a sleeping Melanie. "She don't need anymore of this shit tonight," he added as he pulled the blankets up around the two of them. "If yer gonna argue, take it into another room."

"Sorry bro." Merle said ashamed as he patted Daryl on the back as they all said goodnight to him and Melanie as they went to the canteen to discuss things.

He pushed Melanie's fringe away and rested his forehead against hers.

"I'm gonna get yer through this Mel." He promised.

He stroked her cheek softly, upset that she hadn't been able to talk to him, and had tried to find a way out of it instead. "I need ya here with me, Mel. I can't deal with losin' ya again."

"I can't either; I just thought you'd be better off without me." She said touching his right cheek gently as he pulled her into him.

"I would never be better of without ya," Daryl whispered softly. "Yer the only thing that ever made my life worthwhile, Mel, I don't know where I woulda been if I hadn't met ya that day in the field."

"Neither do I." She whispered as they both thought back to that day.

* * *

_A fourteen year old Melanie was sitting in the field, playing with the crops, after a bad day with her mother. She had been shouting at her the whole morning, and Melanie needed a bit of peace. She lay back in the field, as she heard a rustling nearby, and suddenly panicked; thinking her mother or one of her boyfriends had come after her._

_She looked around to see a boy older than her staring at her as he stood up, he was lightly tanned and he had dark brown shaggy hair with piercing blue eyes as he looked at her. He looked familiar but she couldn't remember his name._

_"What are ya doing here, lady?" He asked not rudely._

_"I was just looking for somewhere quiet," she said nervously as she stood up. "I didn't mean to get in your space. I can go," she muttered, as she got to her feet, and began to turn away, before she noticed the blood on his face and his arms. "Are you alright?"  
_

_Daryl realised she was looking at his face and he quickly wiped the blood off his face, wincing slightly as he did._

_"I can get you some bandages and some painkillers?" She offered shyly._

_Daryl looked at her with a frown. Was she being serious? She didn't even know him and she was offering to help him? "Um... I don't think so," he mumbled as he turned away. "I'll be fine."_

_"But you're hurt?" she said quietly, as she hesitated for a moment before following him. "I can help you."_

_He looked at her then carefully, she had a right black eye and there were bruises on her pale face and she had dark grey eyes with soft sun red wavy curls tumbling around her face as her fringe covered her forehead._

_"Yer sure?" He asked wearily, not quite sure if this was a joke._

_"I'm sure."_

_Daryl sighed quietly. "Alright then."_

_Melanie nodded, going to take him to her Uncle Hershel. She knew he would have medical supplies somewhere. "Follow me then. What's your name?" she asked, as they started walking through the field._

_"Daryl Dixon, you?" He asked following her through the fields._

_"Melanie Blake Greene and its nice to meet you Daryl." She said softly as they neared the house and saw that the lights were on._

_"It's nice to meet you too, Melanie," he said quietly, as they went to the house of Melanie's, Uncle Hershel, the first of many times that Daryl ever visited with her.  
_

* * *

He smiled softly at Melanie as he rested his chin on top of her head and fell asleep.


	8. You've Got Family

Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again but will he be able to raise Melanie from the ashes with the help of a former enemy? – Co – Written with NadWri. Daryl/OC, Merle/Carol, Brenda/Hershel, Rick/Rowan, Phillip/Andrea, Carl/Beth.

Ashes And Dust

Chapter 8

* * *

"Ya think she's OK?" Merle asked Carol as they got ready for bed. "I mean, I thought she was doing better, but then after what she did, I ain't too sure."

Carol smiled sadly at him, "Melanie's a strong young woman Merle; she just needs time to recover from this terrible time and have our support along the way." She said softly as they got in bed and blew out the candle.

"She's got our support," Merle said quietly, as he pulled Carol into him and kissed her forehead gently. "I don't think my brothers gonna leave her side. If only he'd grow the balls to tell her how he feels."

Carol smiled softly into the darkness. "It's not easy, Merle."

"I know it ain't." He said quietly cuddling into her as they both fell asleep.

Carol had a smile on her face as she slept. After everything that had happened with Ed, she may have found her perfect man.

* * *

The next morning Melanie awoke to find herself wrapped in Daryl's arms as she saw the sun shining over the prison.

She looked at him closely and lightly kissed his cheek.

She buried her head into his chest and inhaled his scent deeply as he slept. "I'm so sorry, Dare," she whispered softly as he held her. "I should never have tried to leave you behind."

From now on, she would be strong and let these people in. They were her friends and Daryl, Merle, Carol, Maggie, Glenn, Beth, Uncle Hershel and Rick were all trying to help her along with the others she realised as she stroked his face.

Daryl's eyes cracked open and he saw her lying beside him, a small smile crossing his face. It wasn't exactly like the olden days, but it was close enough. He leaned his cheek into her touch. "Hey there," he said softly.

"Hey." She said shyly and kissed his nose gently as he stroked her bandaged wrists as they both sat up.

"How are ya feeling?" He asked her gently.

"A bit better, what I did was selfish and stupid." She said looking ashamed and disgusted at herself.

"No, it wasn't darlin'," he said softly, as he wrapped his arms around her. He sighed before deciding to tell her something. "After we got run out of the quarry we told you about, we went to the CDC. The guy there was an idiot and tried to blow us up. Andrea tried to stay behind. She tried to kill herself, but Dale got her out in time. That was after her sister was killed. Then at the farm, after Shane opened up the barn and killed Annette and Sean, Beth cut her wrists too. Hershel had to stitch her up. And Merle told me that Carol had thought about it after Sophia had died. So ya ain't the only one," he said quietly as he buried his face into her neck. "Don't beat yerself up over it."

"I'm not gonna cry anymore over what happened, it wasn't my fault or anyone else's fault and I want to help out." She said softly stroking his neck.

"Ya can take it easy, yer still hurt." He said moved by how strong Melanie was.

"I know, but I'm not going to let this get me down anymore," she promised. "For my family. For myself. For you."

He touched her cheek and simply held her for a while as they both silently promised to never leave each other again.

"C'mon let's cook breakfast, Dare." She said smiling as they both got up and headed to the kitchen where they saw Judith in her highchair with Carl and Rick.

"Good morning, you three," Melanie said with a small smile, trying to be more upbeat. "How are you all this morning?"

"I'm good, thank you," Rick said as he smiled at Melanie. To be honest, he hadn't even expected to see her for a couple of days. "Um... How are you?"

She smiled at him, knowing he was being tactful "I'm alright, getting better after what happened." She said softly as Judith played with her spoon.

"Do you think Rowan's ok, wherever she is?" She asked Daryl.

Daryl gave her a small smile. He hadn't really thought about it. "I'm sure she is. When was the last time you seen her?"

"A day before this shit started, I spoke to her on the phone and she told me she was heading to her grandparents house in Georgia. She's pregnant Daryl." Melanie said sadly.

"Ya think it's Jake's?" He asked mentioning Rowan's violent ex husband.

"I'm not sure." She said quietly.

"He weren't no good for her at all," Daryl said quietly. "Remember that night we went to their house for drinks? He shouted at her in front of his until she got embarrassed and went to bed, and then he tried to hit on ya," he added angrily, remembering the details. Daryl had made it pretty clear that night, that although they never labelled what they had as a relationship, that Melanie was his, and no one else's.

Melanie laughed lightly, "He didn't hit on me after that." She said amused as they both remembered that night.

"Who's Rowan?" Rick asked intrigued.

"She was one of our friends from high school," Daryl said as he thought about all the days they would spend together, most of the time skipping classes with each other. "She was a real sweet girl, got caught up with the wrong man. We ain't seen her since all this shit started, and wondered if she was still out there somewhere."

"I'm sure she's fine." Rick said gently and he looked at them both as they all watched Judith once again smear food all over her face making her face look green.

"Judy, you look like a baby pea." Carl said amused as Melanie gently wiped her face clean along with her small hands.

Judith giggled at them.

"She's such a little playful sweetheart." Daryl said moved.

"She is," Rick said with a chuckle as he looked at Daryl. "At least you don't have to change her diapers, believe me, that's not something to look forward to."

"Hell no, I ain't changing her shitty diapers." He said appalled.

Melanie laughed as Judith waved at Rick wanting a cuddle from her daddy and he gently picked her up and bounced her gently.

They smiled as Rick bonded with his daughter, Daryl happy to see the sight. Rick had gone AWOL after Lori had died, and he had missed the first couple of days after she was born, leaving Daryl and the rest of the group to look after her. "He's a wonderful father, isn't he?" Melanie said softly as they watched them, Judith smiling up at her dad.

Daryl nodded. "Yeah, he is."

She smiled at him softly as they prepared breakfast and the others came in looking surprised but pleased to see Melanie on her feet and smiling softly.

"Hey there Mel," Merle said smiling as he sat down next to Carol and looked up at her. "How are ya doin'?"

"I'm alright thank you, Merle, how are you?" she asked, as she handed out plates of eggs to everyone, the best she could do with the little food supplies that they had.

"I'm good," Merle nodded as he thanked her for the breakfast.

"I'm glad." She said as she sat down next to Daryl and they all ate their breakfast as they talked to each when Axel hurried in.

"There's a young dumped on the road outside the prison!"

"Oh my God, hurry up, move!" Rick said as they all got up and headed outside to see who it was.

They all hurried outside to see a young woman around Melanie's age lying on the road outside the fence, she was pale and had shoulder black hair. She had bruises on her face and there was blood smeared on her face, they could see she was pregnant.

"Oh my god Rowan?!" Melanie gasped horrified.

"Mel?" the woman gasped as she looked up, her breathing coming out heavily. "Daryl? Merle?"

"Rowan, it's us," Daryl said crouching down next to her, and trying his best to pick her up. "We need to get inside, get Hershel to look at her."

Melanie went to help him but was careful not to hurt her wounds as they along with Rick helped Rowan back to the prison. She was breathing steadily but her face was white and her eyes looked frightened as they helped her into a cell.

"What happened Rowan?" Melanie asked horrified.

"Jake..." she gasped out. "He joined this group, and they attacked me. I can't believe I found you," she said as she looked at Daryl and her with a glint of happiness in her eyes.

"We're here now, Rowan," Melanie said softly, and Daryl was proud how she had helped Rowan, even although she was in pain of her own.

"He wants this town called Woodbury and the prison, he wants to kill everyone inside these places and someone is helping him from Woodbury. The older brother is helping them steal all the weapons and ammo." She said clutching her stomach.

"Its alright, you're gonna be alright." Rick soothed gently.

"Hershel, can ya check over the baby?" Daryl asked as he looked at the older man. "Don't wanna lose two in twenty four hours," he mumbled, and Rowan looked at him in confusion, while Mel looked at him slightly upset. "Shit, Mel, I didn't mean it like that, I..."

"It's OK Daryl," she said quietly. "I know what you meant."

He squeezed her hand tightly as Hershel and Carol checked Rowan and the baby over and found everything to be fine but Rowan had been seriously beaten up. She had a sprained wrist, her ankle was bruised and so was her throat.

"What happened to you Melanie?" Rowan asked seeing the bruises and cuts on her friend.

"I was... sexually assaulted." Melanie explained quietly.

"Oh God, Melanie, I'm so sorry," Rowan said as she sat up and looked at her and Daryl. "Was the baby..." she trailed off, and Melanie got where she was going with it.

She shook her head. "No... It was the man who assaulted me. I miscarried it yesterday."

"I'm so very sorry, Melanie." Rowan said grabbing her other hand as she comforted Melanie and tried not to think about her insane ex husband.

"How did he find ya?" Daryl asked worried.

"He had been looking for me the whole time apparently," Rowan said worriedly as her thoughts were sent straight back to Jake. "He wanted me until the baby was born so he and his group could raise it, and he was going to kill me afterwards," she said worriedly as she looked at Daryl and Melanie. "You two know what he was like; please don't let him get to me and my baby."

"We won't Rowan, we promise." Melanie assured her best friend as she fell asleep, her arms wrapped around her bump.

"That poor woman." Dale said stunned.

"That's Randall's group as well." Rick pointed out harshly.

"Another thanks to you, Dale," Merle muttered harshly, as they left Rowan's cell, to leave her in peace.

"What are we supposed to do Rick?" Carol asked worriedly.

"I want to go get my dad back," Melanie said firmly. "You heard Rowan. They want to attack Woodbury too, and Brian is in on it. Dad and Milton aren't safe there, and I'm not going to take no for an answer this time."

"No, you're right, its not safe there for them and the kids." Rick agreed.

"I'll come with ya." Daryl said and Andrea volunteered as well.

"I'll come too." Beth offered.

"If you're sure," she said quietly as she looked at them all. "I don't want to put you in danger too."

"We're not letting you go alone," Andrea said firmly. Melanie was still injured, and her mental state of mind might not have been a hundred percent brilliant. There was no chance she was going by herself.

She gave them a small smile which they returned and they all headed outside to get a car and got a truck for Andrea and Beth while Daryl and Melanie would go on his bike.

"Let's go." Andrea said softly.

"Are ya sure yer OK on the bike?" Daryl asked, knowing that she was probably a little sore still.

She nodded her head. "I'm fine, I've missed this bike," she said with a soft smile.

He smiled back at her as they drove on the road to Woodbury, hoping that Jake and his gang hadn't attacked Woodbury yet.

"You think my dad is OK?" she asked worriedly, trying to spit the hairs out of her face that were blowing into her mouth as she had her wrapped around Daryl tightly.

"I'm sure he will be, he seems like he can handle himself," Daryl said softly as he tried to drive as fast as they could go.

"That's true." She said remembering the stories Andrea, Hershel and Merle had told her about her dad and he'd created Woodbury.

* * *

Phillip was in his office in his home trying to understand how they had five missing rifles along with ammo when he heard shooting outside and screaming.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, jumping up from his chair, and looking for something he could use as a weapon. He found a small handgun in the corner of his room and picked it up. Who the hell was attacking Woodbury now? He cursed under his breath, as he rushed downstairs and outside, looking around for Brian, Milton or Martinez, someone he could ask about what was going on.

He saw a group of men shooting at everyone and saw the children of the town hiding in between two houses as Milton hurried over with Martinez and Hayley, Rowan wasn't anywhere.

"We need to get the kids and the animals in the house." Phillip said quickly.

"What's going on?" Milton asked. He knew they were under attack, that much was obvious, but he didn't know who by or why. "We need to get everyone to safety."

Phillip nodded. "Yeah, help me; I'm going to go look for Brian."

The others nodded and hurried to get the children into the house along with the animals and babies as Phillip hurried to find Brian, hoping that these assholes hadn't hurt his older brother when he saw him talking to one of the men.

"Good job, now I can get rid of this town."

"Brian?" Phillip gasped quietly, unable to believe that his brother was betraying him like this. He ducked out of sight where he couldn't be seen and tried to make his way back to the house undetected. They had to get out of here now. It wasn't safe for them to be around, not even around his brother anymore. He didn't have any back up plan or anywhere they could co. Except... maybe the prison.

Just as he was thinking this over, he heard the sound of a motorcycle engine coming towards them along with a truck and saw it was Daryl and Melanie as they fired at the gang of men who were surprised but fought back.

"Get in!" Andrea yelled at him and the kids as they all got in along with the animals, one of the dogs barked as Daryl fired at a walker.

"What are you guys doing here?" Phillip asked, relieved none the less to see them and see that they were OK.

"We had some information that there was going to be an attack on Woodbury," Andrea explained, as she turned to truck around, ready to get the hell out of here.

"HELP!" They heard a child yell and looked around to see five children trapped in a bus as walkers walked towards it.

"We have to help them, Daryl." Melanie said unsheathing her scythe as Daryl grabbed his pistol and they hurried to the bus.

Melanie saw the walkers surround the bus, there had to be at least thirty of them, banging on the side, desperate for their next meal. At least the kids were keeping them distracted while they could sneak up behind them and take out the walkers. She tried to make as little noise as possible as she slowly began to behead the walkers, and one by one, they fell to the floor, making an easier path through to the children.

She and Daryl hurried into the bus as the children looked at them both with weary eyes, a little girl with long blonde wavy hair ran to them.

"Can you help Ruby, she's sick and she's really hurt?" She pleaded with them.

Melanie swallowed as she looked around. She didn't know how they were supposed to get these children back to the prison, or look after them all when they were there, but they seemed so lost and helpless for her to refuse. She looked back at the little girl and nodded. "I can try. Can you take me to her?"

The little girl nodded and showed her to where a little girl with thick, auburn straight hair was breathing heavily as she had blood in between her legs.

Oh god.

Melanie checked her forehead while Daryl went to help the other kids as she looked at the little girl who was next to her.

"What's you're name sweetie?"

"My name is Emily," the girl said quietly, as she crouched down beside her friend, Ruby. She seemed to be scared of, but thankful for Daryl and Melanie at the same time.

Mel tried to check over Ruby, but apart from the obvious, she couldn't see any medical problems. "Alright, we need to get you out of here," she said softly. "We can take you back to our home; I promise we aren't going to hurt you. We have Milton there, Phillip, people you know, alright?"

They all nodded and seemed to trust them more as Daryl got his bike into the bus and they started to drive away when he saw a black German Sheppard sit next to him along with a dark haired young boy around Carl and Duane's age.

"I'm Noah."

"Nice to meet you, Noah," Daryl said with a small smile as he looked at the kid. Children had always made him nervous, but these kids didn't seem like they were going to cause them any trouble. "My name is Daryl Dixon, and this here is my friend Melanie."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr Dixon," Noah replied. "And you, Miss Melanie."

Melanie smiled at him softly as she looked at all of the children and their pets; one of the girls was holding a tabby cat while she gave her and Melanie a shy smile.

"We're here now." Daryl said as they pulled up.

They unloaded the five children and the animals from the bus, and the others watched in shock at their new arrivals. "Melanie, you're OK!" Phillip said happily as he rushed forward and pulled his daughter into a hug, which she happily returned. "I was so worried about you... when Andrea and Beth and the rest of us left, we couldn't see you anywhere."

Melanie gave him a small smile as she gestured to the bus behind her. "That's because we were rescuing this lot. I'm fine, dad."

Phillip looked at her closely as he hugged her again and let go, she was a very independent young woman and he respected that.

"Who are these children and babies?" Rick asked as he helped Rowan out along with Carl and Judith.

"They are from Woodbury," Phillip explained, as he recognized the faces of the scared children. "We were under attack, just a good job these guys showed up when we did. We couldn't rescue the adults in time, but we managed to get the children and the animals out," he added. "I hope you don't mind them staying with us, if you have enough room here, that is?"

Rick sighed as he looked at them. They were already low on supplies, not to mention Phillip had brought back Milton, Martinez, Hayley and Karen from Woodbury. But he couldn't say no to them. "Come inside, I'm sure Carol and Maggie can find them all places to sleep for the time being."

"Thank you." They all said and went inside as Melanie carried Ruby who was trembling in her arms as they went inside.

"Don't let the bad man hurt me." She whispered shakily.

"I won't, I promise." Melanie said honestly.

* * *

"What's wrong, Mel?" Daryl asked walking next to her.

Melanie swallowed hard as she took Ruby to her Uncle Hershel. "It looks like she's been raped," she said, as felt sick for the poor girl in her arms. "I can't be sure, but..."

They found Hershel in his cell, sitting reading a bible passage. After all this time, he still hadn't given up on reading it. "Hershel, she needs your help," Melanie explained as she set down Ruby on the bed. "Can you take a look at her? I think she's been sexually assaulted."

"Bring her into the next cell, Melanie." He said quickly and they placed the little girl on the bed and felt her forehead, she was burning up badly and had painful bruises on her arms and legs.

"Mommy no, please don't hurt my mommy Crowley."

"No one is going to hurt you," Hershel assured her, and he felt his heart break for the child as he checked her over. She had definitely been assaulted, that was for sure. "Can you go fetch Carol?" he asked Melanie. "And ask her to bring my medical bag; I need something to clean her wounds."

"Of course." Melanie said hurrying to where Carol was getting the children settled in.

"Carol? Hershel needs your help, can you take his medical supplies to him?" she asked quickly, as she looked around for the bag before handing it to Carol. "He's in the cell next to his own," she added, and Carol nodded before hurrying away.

* * *

"How are they doing?" Melanie asked Maggie, who had put the last of the children into a cell.

"Scared, want their parents but they're doing ok. How are you Mel?" Maggie asked softly as they sat down.

"I'm doing alright, having Daryl and all of you are good." She said smiling faintly as Rowan sat down next to them as Rick and Daryl came in. Judith was playing on the floor with some toys.

"It's so nice to see you and Daryl and Merle again, Mel," Rowan said softly, feeling a little better as she rubbed her bump. She had missed her friends out on the road, hell; she had missed the company of anyone. "How long have you been here?"

"Actually, I've only been here a couple of days," Melanie said with a small smile. "I was on my own in the woods too, I just happened to run into these guys. By luck, I guess."

Rowan smiled at her as she rubbed her bump and felt the baby kick at her touch happily, she then saw Judith crawl towards her and coo.

"Hello, cutie." She said softly.

"May I?" she asked Rick, a little wary about picking the still relatively strangers child up. Rick nodded and smiled at her, as Rowan crouched down and picked up Judith, bouncing her happily on her lap. "She's just adorable, isn't she?" she asked with a grin, as Judith laughed at her.

Hayley, Karen and Milton came in, after having settled their stuff into a cell. Hayley smiled over at Daryl. He was just her type, he was rough, had the bad boy edge to him, and had more or less saved her life. But she didn't know if he already had a family here. She sat down next to him on the sofa, at the opposite side of Melanie. "Hello," she said with a smile. "It's Daryl, right?" she asked, and Daryl nodded. "Is this your wife?" she asked gesturing to Melanie.

Melanie scoffed and shook her head. "No. Daryl and I are just friends."

Hayley felt happy at that. Maybe she had a chance after all. "I see," she replied, as she turned to Daryl again. "So I like your crossbow. I used to have one just like that in Woodbury. I wasn't great with it though, maybe you could teach me sometime?"

"Sorry, I got my woman to look after." He said giving a smile to Melanie who genuinely smiled back at him for what felt like the first time in days.

"You're woman?" Hayley asked confused.

"Melanie's my old lady in other words and I'm her old man." He said smirking.

"Bout damn time," Merle said as he smirked at Daryl.

"I thought Melanie was only your friend?" Hayley asked a little disappointed looking.

Melanie looked shocked but smiled. That was the first time Daryl had ever claimed to be more than her friend in front of her. "I don't mind. If Hayley needs the training. Could be useful if we need to fight."

"Alright but don't try anything." Daryl told Hayley as he sat down next to Melanie who smiled at him softly and curled into him.

"My man," she said softly as she smiled up at him. Deep down she had always longed for Daryl to be something more than her friend. It just sucked that they had to wait until the end of the world for them to realize it.

He touched her cheek gently as they saw Hershel come out looking sad as did Carol, he was carrying his medical bag as well.

"How's Ruby?" Melanie asked as the children looked worriedly at him.

"She's not good," he said quietly, as he looked at the children around them, trying not to scare them. "She's been raped, and it sounded like her mother was too," he added sadly. "I think she's suffering from some sort of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Hopefully she can pull through."

"Poor kid," Glenn said sadly, not being able to imagine how terrified she probably was right now.

"Do we know where her mother is?" Dale asked quietly.

"The men took her to the arena along with the other parents and fed them to the walkers, they made us watch." A blonde haired little boy said scared.

"That's awful," Maggie said disgusted, having seen what went on in the arena when they had to rescue Daryl and Merle from it, after they had been captured trying to rescue her and Glenn.

"That must have happened when I was here," Phillip said feeling sick, horrified that his brother had authorized that to go ahead.

"What happens in the arena?" Melanie asked confused.

"In the arena we have people fight walkers for entertainment, we kill the walkers but obviously Brian wanted to get rid of anyone who would stand up to him." Milton explained.

"That's sick." Melanie said disgusted.

"Can we tell you our names?" Emily asked Rick and Phillip.

"Of course you can," Rick smiled, trying to make the kids feel less nervous around them. "You're Emily, aren't you?" he asked and she nodded. "And I know Noah and Ruby. What about you're other friends?"

"I'm Polly." A red haired little girl said shyly.

"I'm Jamie." A tall blonde haired teenaged girl said softly.

"I'm Billy; I'm Jamie's younger brother." Billy said shyly, he had dark brown hair and sweet baby blue eyes.

"I'm Jason." A dark blonde haired boy said.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Rick said with a smile as he went around the adults and introduced them all to the children. "Are these your pets?" he asked, pointing to the animals.

"Yes, the tabby cat is mine and her name is Wendy." Polly said feeling more comfortable when Billy spoke.

"And there's Sarah." He said pointing to a beautiful, blonde haired little girl with china, blue eyes who was hiding in the corner.

"Is she ok?" Daryl asked concerned.

"She's very scared," Emily explained quietly as she looked at her friend. "She was pretty shy before this, but when he mother and father were killed, she's barely spoken ever since then," she added sadly. "She's not hurt, she's just terrified."

"Don't worry; we won't let anyone hurt you all." Rick assured her as Sarah got up and they all saw she was holding a black teddy bear.

"Mommy?" She asked trembling violently.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, she's not here," Rick said quietly, as he tried not to frighten the girl anymore. "But we're going to look after you now, OK?"

Sarah nodded and walked over to him and Daryl wearily as she looked at them.

"Will you be my family?"

"Of course we will," Rick said softly as he smiled down at her. "We're going to look after you from now on, OK?"

Sarah nodded and cuddled into Daryl and Melanie as she fell asleep.

"She's exhausted." Melanie said softly.

"Why don't we take her to her cell, let her get some rest?" Daryl asked as he stood up and picked up the girl in his arms, looking down at her sadly. "All the kids should be headin' to bed anyway; they've had a long day."

Melanie nodded and helped Daryl place Sarah in her cell and into her bed, Daryl turned his back while she got Sarah changed for bed and smiled sadly.

"She's so scared." She said sadly as she pulled the sheets over her.

"No wonder, seein' her parents in the arena," Daryl said quietly, remembering the short time he had spent in there with Merle. They had a very lucky escape, to put it one way. "It ain't exactly much fun in there."

"You've been in the arena?" Melanie asked shocked as they walked back to their cell.

"Yeah, when me and Merle went to rescue Glenn and Maggie we got left behind and Brian were gonna feed us to the walkers." He explained as they sat down next to Merle and Carol.

"We need to go on a supply run." Rick said looking at them all.

"I'll go." Daryl said getting up.

"I'll go too." Melanie said softly.

"Are ya sure?" he asked softly, knowing she was still getting better and not wanting to ruin her progress this far. "I don't want ya to get hurt again."

"I'll be fine," Melanie said as she grabbed her scythe. She wanted to talk Daryl in privacy about what he had said to Hayley earlier, and she didn't want to sit around and do nothing. Besides, they needed more supplies, especially now they had the extra people and the animals.

"Alright." He said softly giving her a small smile.

"I'll go too Maggie said as Glenn nodded and they all headed outside on the car and the bike to get some supplies.

"Are ya sure?" he asked softly, knowing she was still getting better and not wanting to ruin her progress this far. "I don't want ya to get hurt again."

"I'll be fine," Melanie said as she grabbed her scythe. She wanted to talk Daryl in privacy about what he had said to Hayley earlier, and she didn't want to sit around and do nothing. Besides, they needed more supplies, especially now they had the extra people and the animals.

"Alright." He said softly giving her a small smile.

"I'll go too Maggie said as Glenn nodded and they all headed outside on the car and the bike to get some supplies.

* * *

Melanie decided to go with Maggie in the car, so she didn't hurt herself again, while Glenn went with Daryl on the bike as they drove to the town, hoping to find that everything hadn't already been looted.

"So how long have you and Glenn been together then?" Melanie asked Maggie, finding it nice to have some time to talk to her cousin again, just like the olden days.

"A year and we're going strong, he's a sweet man." Maggie said smiling fondly as they followed Daryl and Glenn on the bike.

They had stopped upon a little shopping centre and Melanie was stunned at the high street brands, Hollister, Gilly Hicks Abercrombie and Fitch, New Look and a Channel store.

"Holy shit, they've got two supermarkets."

Melanie chuckled as she looked at Maggie. The two of them could spend far too much time in the clothing shops before the dead had risen. "Fancy a shopping spree?" she asked with a laugh as they headed into the supermarkets. It was large from the outside, but most of the stuff inside had already been taken, and the shop looked pretty much empty. "I don't exactly know what we expected to find in here, I imagine we're not the only people who have found this place already."

"Yeah, that's true." Maggie said as she touched a door and clothes tumbled out all over the floor and they grabbed all of the clothing, underwear and socks. Melanie had gotten Daryl some more jeans along with some clothes for the women; she had gotten some children's clothes as well along with shoes.

"This place is a fucking gold mine." Daryl said seriously.

"Look, pet food and food for us!"

"Someone must have stashed all this stuff away and planned to come back for it, but never got back," Melanie said as she tried to figure out the reason for the strange stash of food and clothing. Whoever had left it here obviously had children too, since they had stored clothes for the children. "Maybe we should leave some of the stuff," Melanie said worriedly, in case the people were still alive and wanted to come back for it.

"We need it," Glenn said as he, Maggie and Daryl shoved everything into bags, emptying the place out completely.

"You think this stuff is still edible?" Maggie asked as she looked at the dates on the cans of food. "God knows how long it's been here."

"Its all we have and it doesn't look too bad." Daryl said as they headed to the book store next and Melanie grabbed all the books she could along with them helping her when they heard a baby crying.

"What was that?" Glenn asked looking around.

"Sounded like a baby," Maggie said confused, as she put down what she was carrying and took a look through the different aisles. Seconds later, she came back holding a baby in her arms, with a shocked expression, as she looked between Daryl, Melanie and Glenn.

"What the hell?" Daryl muttered with a raised eyebrow.

"Someone left a baby here." Melanie said shocked as they heard more crying and grabbing the stuff followed the noise to see a nursery splattered in blood and gore along with bullets in the walls.

There were ten babies and they were all crying softly.

They all froze and looked at each other. Melanie suddenly felt upset, thinking of her baby, and she bit down on her lip to stop herself crying. "I'll wait outside," she said quickly, as she left the room.

Maggie went to check the babies. "We can't leave them here," she said firmly as she looked at the two men.

"I know." Daryl said as Melanie came back in looking more composed and they all picked up a baby and headed back to the car.

Melanie smiled at the baby who cooed at her softly as a smiling Daryl watched on.

"Who could abandon them?" She asked him.

"Someone without a heart," Daryl said quietly, as he tried not to drop the baby he was carrying.

"Maybe they didn't have a choice," Maggie said softly. "They might have been under attack and had to leave the children there."

They all nodded and after placing the supplies and the babies in the car, they drove back to the prison.

* * *

Rick was sitting in the canteen area, along with Judith, as everyone else was getting settled into the prison. The children were starting to come out of the shells a little more, but they had all gone to bed for the night, hoping to get a decent night's sleep without feeling in danger. Hopefully Maggie, Glenn, Daryl and Mel would come back with enough supplies for everyone. He smiled softly as he heard the car and the motorbike pull up outside and set Judith down, as he went outside to greet them.

He watched them get out a lot of supplies and then heard babies crying and went to look when he saw ten babies staring at him with different coloured eyes.

"Holy shit!"

"This was our other find in the town," Maggie said with a small smile as she picked up a couple of bags and one of the baby girls. "Wanna help us inside with them?"

Rick looked shocked but nodded anyway as he picked up one of the children. He watched as Daryl tried to balance one on either arm, as they all walked inside.

Melanie gently picked one of the babies from Daryl's right arm and bounced the baby as she cooed at her happily.

"Hello cutie." She said warmly as they headed into the cell block where the others stared in shock at the babies.

"Holy fuck!"

* * *

**Baby boom x**


	9. Healing Soul

Summary: Daryl and Merle are rebuilding the prison when a person from their past appears and secrets are revealed. Melanie never knew having a father who had caused the group hell would make her life change in so many ways. When Daryl and the group see something horrendous, Daryl vows to never let anyone hurt Melanie again but will he be able to raise Melanie from the ashes with the help of a former enemy? – Co – Written with NadWri. Daryl/OC, Merle/Carol, Brenda/Hershel, Rick/Rowan, Phillip/Andrea, Carl/Beth.

Ashes And Dust

Chapter 9

* * *

"We found them in a nursery in town," Melanie explained before the others could ask about the babies. They set them down in the canteen area, as Hershel checked them all over, and Carol and Beth made some bottles up for them all.

"How are we going to look after 'em all?" Merle asked, worried they couldn't keep the babies safe.

"We will, don't worry." She said sounding confident as the baby she was holdin refused to let go of her and so she fed her a bottle of formula as Daryl sat down next to her as he held a baby boy.

"Are they ok?" Phillip asked as he held a baby along with Andrea as they cooed.

"I think so," Hershel said with a small smile as he picked up one of the baby boys. "They seem healthy enough, they must have been fed recently too."

"There were bullet holes all around the nursery," Daryl said quietly, remembering the scene that had looked like a massacre. "I don't think whoever was lookin' after them will be coming back for them," he said as the baby in his arms smiled up at him. "Ain't that right, little man?"

The baby boy cooed at him happily as Melanie rocked a baby girl with tufts of raven black hair; she had blue eyes and was very beautiful.

"They're so cute." Beth said moved.

"What should we call them?" Sasha asked.

"I dunno," Daryl said as he looked down at the baby. "What do ya look like?" he said as he pondered a name.

Melanie laughed at him. "Since when did you get so good with babies? You hated them a year ago."

"My brother turned into a softy," Merle chuckled. "Ya missed quite a bit."

"I know but it's sweet." She said smiling as Daryl came up with a name.

"I'll call ya Jake Quinn Dixon." He said proudly, liking the name and Melanie smiled at that name. It was a nice, badass name.

"What are ya gonna call the little sweetheart?" He asked her softly.

Melanie looked surprised for a minute. "Uhm... I don't know," she said quietly. She hadn't really expected to have to name a child today. "What about Scarlett? Scarlett Blake-Greene," she said with a small smile.

He smiled back at her, "That's a beautiful name, Mel." He said softly and Melanie smiled back and said quietly so the others wouldn't hear.

"Scarlett Blake Greene Dixon."

Melanie looked at him, but didn't say anything. "I'm going to put Scarlett to bed then," she said quietly, as she got up from her chair.

They all nodded and watched her walk to the cell she shared with Daryl and after a moment he followed after her.

* * *

"Did I upset ya?" He asked worried.

"No, of course not its just you still want to be with me after what Drake did to me and everything Daryl." She said feeling her eyes burn as she rocked Scarlett.

"Of course I do, Mel, more than anythin'," Daryl said softly, as he touched her cheek gently, marvelling at how soft her skin had remained, feeling it underneath his rough fingers.

"And I don't want to ruin what we had," she said quietly. "You know, before this. When we were friends," she added. Things with Daryl had felt different, now that he had more or less declared to Hayley and everyone else that they were together. "I'm scared I'll do something wrong now that things are different and I'll mess this up. I can't lose the friendship we had."

"Ya won't Mel, I promise we'll take this slow and I will never let ya go." He said softly as Jake cooed at them and Melanie laughed as they picked him up along with Scarlett and placed them in the cot.

She rested her forehead against his and simply let him hold her.

"C'mon, let's get changed for bed," she said softly, as she got out of her clothes and put them in a washing pile, before putting on one of the new nightgowns they had gotten in town. She felt a little bad, wearing what was probably someone else's, but Glenn was right, they needed them too. Daryl put on his sweatpants and a t-shirt, before they got under the blankets together.

He stroked her cheek gently as she smiled at him. His fingers brushed over her soft lips. He wanted to kiss her, but he was a little scared she would pull away, he hadn't gone any further than her cheek or forehead, ever since her ordeal with Drake. "Can I?" he asked quietly.

She smiled at him shyly. "You don't have to ask." She said softly and he lightly pressed his lips against hers in a soft, gentle kiss that spoke of untold emotions between them both.

She cupped his face and kissed him back.

Daryl smiled into the kiss, before she rested her face in the crook of his neck. "Missed that," he said softly, as his fingers stroked her hair.

"I missed that too." She said cuddling into him as they both fell into a dreamless sleep.

She dreamed of Daryl and the group who had become her family as she slept.

* * *

She got up the next morning, and picked up Scarlett and Jake, before walking to the canteen area, and making a bottle of formula for them both. Phillip was sitting looking at her with a soft smile.

"Morning, sweetheart," he said softly as she sat down. "Mel... Andrea told me about what happened with the baby. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be dad, it wasn't anyone's fault." Melanie said as she sat down and saw that he was holding a baby boy with soft tufts of blonde hair.

"How are you?" She asked knowing things were hard for her dad what with Brian betraying him.

Phillip sighed quietly, glad that he had someone to talk to, who didn't blame him for what happened. "I'm alright. I just wish I knew about what was going on sooner, that way I might have been able to stop some of those kids' parents being killed."

Melanie rubbed his arm gently. "You didn't know, it's not your fault."

"I should have known what he was up to, god dammit." He said frustrated.

"It wasn't your fault and no one blames you." She reassured him.

Phillip nodded as he rocked the baby gently. "Thank you. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing OK," she said quietly, as she looked at Scarlett and Jake. "I'm getting there."

"I'm glad." He said watching her fuss over Jake and Scarlett.

"What did you call the baby?" She asked softly.

"We called him Joel," Phillip said with a smile as he looked down at the baby. "Joel Blake. Andrea and I are going to look after him."

"That's a lovely name." She said softly as Daryl came in.

Daryl kissed her lips softly as he sat down next to her, and looked down at Scarlett and Jake, making Phillip smile.

"How are they?" He asked softly as he picked up Jake as Noah came in with Karen and one of the babies, she looked worried.

"Brian's outside!"

Phillip swallowed nervously as he set down Joel. Brian was his brother, but Brian was also dangerous. And he was probably looking for him and the rest of Woodbury who had escaped. "Let me go outside and talk to him," he said quietly as he stood up. "Maybe he just wants to know where I am or something. If you hear anything that doesn't sound good, send Martinez or something to back me up."

"No, dad," Melanie said quickly as she set Scarlett into Daryl's arms. "You can't go out there by yourself, who knows how many people he has with him," she said as she picked up her scythe. "I'm coming with you, and you're not going to say no."

Phillip couldn't help but chuckle. He really did have a stubborn daughter when she wanted to be. "Alright then, but stay close to me Melanie, alright? If anything happens to you, I'd never forgive myself. Let's go see your uncle."

She chuckled and smiled at Daryl as they headed outside to see Brian waiting for them, she noticed he wore a black eye patch over his left eye.

"Aye, aye pirate." She said darkly and followed her dad as they looked at Brian.

"Phillip, it's good to see you." He said calmly but they could tell he didn't mean it.

"Who's this then?" he asked as he looked at Melanie, looking her body up and down. She wasn't the blonde that Phillip had been so infatuated with when she had spent time in Woodbury, and she definitely wasn't Michonne. "Is this the new girl you're sleeping with then?"

Phillip looked disgusted as he glared at Brian. "This is my daughter, Melanie. This is your niece," he said sharply. He looked around and seen that Brian had brought two cars of men with him. Clearly he was prepared for trouble. But he wasn't going to start a fight right now if he could help it, not with the children inside. "What do you want here, Brian?"

"I want the prison and I want all of your supplies." Brian said harshly.

"Too bad, you're not having any of it." Melanie said glaring at him and recognition showed on his face.

"You're Eve's daughter?"

Melanie looked confused for a minute. How could he possibly have known that? He barely even knew he had another niece apart from Penny until Phillip had told him the other day. "Yes. I am. Did you know her?"

"Yeah I knew her, after she had you we had thing going." He said smirking at Phillip who glared at him disgusted.

"So where's Rick, I want to tell him what I want?" Brian said coldly.

"We're not going to get him for you," Melanie said firmly as she stood her ground. "You're not getting any of our supplies, and after what you did to some of our people, you aren't welcome here."

"Melanie..." Phillip warned quietly, hoping Brian wasn't going to get too angry at her. He didn't want her to be in danger, and he could see Brian was getting annoyed.

"No, dad," she said as she looked between him and his brother. "Your brother is a bully, and someone needs to stand up to him. If you're not going to do it, I will. You can't let him walk all over you."

Phillip knew she was right; he couldn't let Brian walk all over him like shit.

"She's right Brian; I'm not giving you the supplies especially seeing as some of your men raped a seven year old girl and her mother." He said calmly.

Brian sighed "I was hoping you wouldn't say that." He said flatly.

"What do you want?" Rick asked as he stood next to Melanie and Phillip, Daryl moving silently next to Melanie.

"He wanted our supplies," Melanie said as she glared at Brian. "And like I told him, he's not having them."

Brian laughed at her, as he walked over to her and circled her like a shark. She reminded him of a little of Eve, and a little of Phillip, but she certainly had quite the attitude, that was for sure; "You really are a piece of work, aren't you?"

"I've been called far worse." She said shrugging off his comment as if it didn't mean anything to her and Daryl smiled that was his Melanie alright.

"You know, I stayed in contact with Eve after she left you." He told Phillip.

Phillip looked at Melanie, before looking back at his brother. "That doesn't surprise me," he said quietly. Eve had pretty much dated every man in the town that they had lived in. "Tell me something that will and then we'll have a conversation. Otherwise, you can leave now."

Brian looked at Rick, "What about you Rick? Are you going to give me the supplies?" He asked the ex sheriff calmly.

Rick took a step forward and felt around for his gun, making sure that in was in place, just in case something went wrong. "Actually, I think Melanie was right," Rick said as he gave her and Phillip a small smile. "We aren't going to give you any of our supplies. And I suggest that you leave now, otherwise we are going to have a problem here."

Brian glared at them all. "This isn't over!" He snarled as he got into a car and drove off.

"Well it is for now," Melanie muttered as they watched him go before heading back inside, where Carol had set the table for lunch and they had all sat down. There was probably going to be an impending war with Brian now, but that was something that they could worry about later. Right now the main focus was making sure that everyone in the prison had enough supplies to keep them going, and that they were safe for the time being.

"Thank you for that," Phillip said as he smiled at his daughter, sitting down next to her and Andrea. "For making me realize I needed to stand up to him. If you hadn't been there, I would have probably caved and ended up giving him the supplies," he admitted, feeling very proud of his daughter for not backing down against Brian.

* * *

Melanie smiled at him. "Daryl taught me to never back down to those types of assholes." She said as she ate some soup.

"What did Brian want, Rick?" Hershel asked quietly.

"He want's our supplies." He said grimly.

"We're not going to give them to him though, right?" Carol asked worriedly, knowing they were just getting by with what they had now. "I mean, we don't exactly have the most supplies ourselves at the minutes, and we have the babies and the animals to think of now too."

Rick nodded in understanding, he was aware of the situation. "Don't worry, the supplies that we have aren't going anywhere."

Dale was silent as he took this in. "But we'll start a war over supplies, because of his crazy ass brother and her uncle." He protested.

"What would you have us do, old man?" Daryl asked coldly.

"We should give them the supplies." He said firmly.

"And then we won't have any Dale," Merle snapped annoyed, getting sick and tired of Dale's attitude towards the group, especially Melanie and Daryl. "Use yer brain. We ain't gonna give up our supplies to that son of a bitch."

Dale sighed and got up, excusing himself from the table, without another word, as he disappeared out of the canteen. Melanie watched him go and shook her head. "What is his problem anyway?"

"He doesn't like seeing us doing what he thinks is wrong and barbaric, he's a very peaceful man and doesn't like violence." Carol explained sadly as they all continued to eat.

"At least his tanks don't work." Martinez pointed out.

"Very true," Rick said with a small smile.

"So what's the plan if Brian comes back here looking for a war?" Milton asked quietly, making everyone on edge with the thought that the peace they had was going to be disrupted.

Melanie looked around them all. "We fight," she said simply as if it was the most obvious answer. "We can't just let him walk over us and take what we have here; we need to fight for it."

"Melanie's right, we can't just let waltz in here and take everything." Daryl said as Jason, Polly, Ruby, Emily, Noah, Billy and Jamie came in.

Rick nodded. "Alright then, I guess we'll formulate a plan," he said as he tried his best to give everyone a reassuring smile. They would get through this, they were strong together and he would make sure nothing broke his group apart.

"Merle, ya wanna go out on a hunting trip?" Daryl asked, as he picked up his crossbow, and checked he had some arrows. "Get some meat for dinner?"

"Can I come too?" Hayley asked, getting up before she had an answer. "You can help me with my crossbow while we're out."

"Yeah, if ya want." Daryl said not looking at her as Carol leaned in to talk to Hayley.

"He loves Melanie and she loves him, so please don't start anything." She told the young girl firmly as Ruby stood.

"Can we tell you all what happened to our parents and us?" She asked timidly.

Daryl and Merle sat back down to listen to the girl before they went out on their trip. "Sure thing, sweetheart," Merle said softly.

Ruby nodded. "When Brian started letting those men attack us, daddy took me and mommy into the bedroom and told us to stay while he went to look for the others. This man called Randall came in and took us to Nate and he... took mommy into a basement and made me listen to her scream and cry, he then took me in there and mommy told him to leave me alone and so did daddy but they took him to the arena and he tried to get out but the walkers ate him. They... they started to undress me and told me I was pretty." She felt tears slide down her face.

"The man, Nate, he... he did things to me," she said tearfully, and Maggie got up to pull her into a hug.

"Shh, sweetheart, you don't need to tell us anymore," Maggie said softly, understanding how hard it was for the poor young girl. "No one is going to hurt you anymore, we promise. Alright."

"Brian fed our parents to the walkers too," Noah said as he looked at Jason, Emily and Sarah. "After they found out what he did along with Nate to Ruby and her family, our parents wanted us to leave Woodbury. That was when he found out, and put them all in the arena for betraying him and the village, and they died."

"He hurt Jamie as well, he hit her and told her to get undressed but she didn't do it and said he was a pervert." Billy said quietly and Jamie hugged her brother tightly.

"It's ok, it wasn't you're fault Billy." She tried to comfort him.

"He said that if we didn't get on the bus, he'd take us into his torture chamber and hurt us like he'd done to Penny with that gang. He said we were useless and that the next one on his list was Andrea and Melanie." Emily sniffled.

"He hurt Sarah, she won't talk." Polly said sadly.

They all smiled sadly at the little girl, who was sitting in the corner, holding onto her teddy bear tightly. She made eye contact with them, but she didn't say anything. "Why don't we all go outside and play a game?" Glenn suggested softly, hoping to take their mind of things, and they all nodded and followed him and Maggie.

"Ya ready to go lil' brother?" Merle asked Daryl as he stood up from his chair, and Daryl gripped his crossbow. Merle looked at Hayley. "If yer comin' with us then move it."

Hayley nodded Carol's words in her mind as she watched them say goodbye to Carol and Melanie who hugged them both and then they left.

"That son of bitch killed my daughter!" Phillip snarled enraged at the fact that Brian had been involved in Penny's death.

"It's alright dad, he'll pay for what he did," Melanie said softly as she got up and hugged him tightly. "He'll pay."

"Oh, he will you can bet on it." He said grimly as he picked up Joel who cooed at him as Melanie played with Jake and Scarlett and to their delight. Sarah joined in as well with Rowan sitting next to them with Carl and Judith.

"So what's been happening with you since I last seen you, Mel?" Rowan asked softly, wanting to catch up with the girl, she would probably consider to be her best friend.

"Nothing much, I found my dad by which you can see and we're good. I'm so happy I found you all and you're here." She told Rowan happily.

Rowan smiled, "I am too." She said as Carl smiled at them.

"How far along are you Rowan?" He asked curiously.

Rowan shook her head. "I'm not quite sure, sweetheart," she said softly as she smiled down at the young boy, She tried to calculate in her head from when she had found out she was pregnant to now. "I don't really have the proper medical equipment to tell, but I'd guess that I was about eight months by now," she said as she rubbed her bump.

Carl looked at her bump, when his mom had been pregnant, she hadn't let him or his dad touch her bump or feel Judith kick saying it hurt.

"Can I feel if that's ok?" He asked wearily.

Rowan nodded at him as she moved over on the sofa so he had easier access. "Of course you can, kiddo," she smiled, as Carl placed his hand over her bump and felt a small nudge against his hand.

"I can feel he or she kicking!" Carl said happily, as he smiled up at Rowan and Melanie.

They both smiled at him warmly with Andrea smiling at the scene as she bounced Joel, he was an adorable baby.

"I never got to feel Judy kick." He said quietly.

Andrea ruffled his hair gently, she knew how hard things were for Lori and Rick after what had happened with Shane, even although she never really got on with Lori. "At least she was alright, and you have a wonderful little sister," she said softly.

Melanie smiled at them and looked at Rowan and her bump. "What does it feel like, Ro?"

"Wonderful, it's a lovely feeling having a life inside of you and feeling it move. It's like a little angel inside you." She said smiling as she rubbed her bump gently.

* * *

Merle, Daryl and Hayley had managed to catch a deer, a couple of squirrels, three racoons and a pheasant.

"C'mon let's get back to the prison." Merle said quickly.

They nodded and started to walk back. "Ya didn't do too badly with that crossbow," Daryl said to Hayley with a small smile, as he dragged the deer behind him. "A little more practice and you'll be an expert. Not as good as me though," he added smirking.

She laughed as they reached the prison and Axel and Morgan let them through as they all headed inside to the prison when Hayley grasped her chest.

Blood stained her shirt as she choked.

"Hayley?" Melanie asked as two cars were driving up to the fence.

"She's been shot!" Daryl exclaimed as he took off his jacket and tried to stop the bleeding as he wrapped it around her wound. He picked her up and looked around the prison yard panicked. "Mel, get inside!"

"No chance," Melanie muttered as she pulled out the gun that Lee had given her as she made her way further into the yard. "This bastard isn't going to ruin what we have here," she said firmly as she aimed her gun at the cars coming through the gate and she was joined by Morgan and Oscar.

She continued firing at the men when she heard groaning and saw to her horror that Brian had let out walkers.

"Fuck." She said shooting down the walkers along with Maggie when Sarah came out calmly, the six year held a gun and fired it at Crowley who in turn shot her in the shoulder.

"NO, SARAH!" Melanie screamed as she ran to where Sarah lay, she was shaking badly and had tears sliding down her face.

Melanie pulled her attention away for two seconds, shooting straight at Crowley and hitting him in the chest, sending the man falling to the ground. She turned her attention back to Sarah and pressed her hands over the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, "You're going to be OK, sweetheart, the bad man is dead." She looked up at Maggie who had come over worriedly. She picked up Sarah and passed her gently to Maggie. "Take her inside, get her help now!" she said hurriedly, before rushing over to help Oscar and Morgan take care of the walkers.

"How many is there?" Morgan asked breathlessly, as they tried to stop the never-ending supply of walkers from coming in the gates, as Brian and the rest of his men drove away.

"Fuck knows." She answered as they shot down the walkers and when they were all gone; they hurried inside when Melanie saw a young boy lying on the ground and dragged him inside into the cell block.

She hurried to the others as she tied up the man and saw Daryl glaring at the man.

"It's fuckin' Randall!"

"Who the hell is Randall?" Melanie asked as she made sure the boy couldn't get out of the restraints that he was in, before closing the cell door behind her.

"Randall is the man whose gang ran us off the farm and is a member of Nate's group." Maggie explained as they all stared at him when Ruby spoke.

"He's one of the men who raped me and Sarah with our moms."

Melanie felt rage run through her. If she had been fit enough to kill her attacker, Drake, she would have, but she had been ill at the time. Now she had the chance. "You bastard!" she growled at Nate as she went back into the cell, and pulled out her knife.

"Melanie, wait." Daryl pulled the knife away from her.

"What are you doing? He fucking needs to die that bastard." She said outraged.

"I know but don't let this take ya over; we can question him and see how many of their group there is." He said holding her hand.

"You're right, I'm sorry." She said softly and then looked at Hershel.

"Is Sarah alright?"

"She's alright," Hershel said softly, knowing Sarah had a lucky escape. If she had been to the left an inch or so, she might have been dead by now. "Luckily the bullet didn't hit any major organs."

Melanie nodded. "That's good," she said quietly before turning to Randall. "You are one sick son of a bitch, you know that?"

"Fuck you, you fuckin' red neck cunt." He spat and Daryl saw red.

He wrenched the cell door open and smashed his fist against Randall's nose, causing him to yell out in pain.

"Don't fuckin talk to my woman!"

"I can handle it Daryl," Melanie said firmly as she looked at him to back off. She wanted to avenge the people that this man had hurt along with his group, and at the same time she had lots of built up rage from Drake. She walked over and crouched down beside Randall, holding her knife to his arm, ready to slash him if he didn't co-operate. "You wanna tell me where your group are?"

Randall looked at her like she was a joke. "I don't think so. You're real pretty you know, my men would like you. Yeah, we'd have a lot of fun with you."

"Don't think so, sweetheart," Melanie growled at him, as she pressed the knife into his skin, drawing blood and making him yell out. "Now, are you going to start talking to me or what?"

"Fuck you, fuck you and this shit hole of a group." He spat at her and Daryl viciously.

"Wrong answer." Melanie said coldly and began to press deeper into Randall's leg, making him scream in agony as Dale hurried through and shook his head disgusted and left intending on giving the supplies.

"Alright, alright I'll tell ya both." He gasped through the pain.

"Good," Melanie snapped as she stood up. "Start talking, kid."

Randall took a deep breath. "There's about twenty of us. Along with the guys from Woodbury. Brian and his men were helping us take supplies from groups like you guys. Once we had them we'd kill the men and use the women for a little bit of fun before we killed them too. We got some pretty heavy weapons from different people."

"Like what?" Daryl asked calmly as he glared at the disgusting excuse for a man.

"Errm…. rocket launchers, grenades, sniper rifles and five machine guns. We have kids too at the camp with this group we caught in the woods, their leader is a black guy called Lee.

Melanie felt all the color drain from her face as she stared at Randall in shock. "Lee," she gasped as she panicked for their well-being. She needed to save them, to repay them for the amount of times that they had saved her life before. If they had the kids too, that meant that Clementine and Duck were in danger. She took her knife to Randall's throat and pressed it into his skin. "Where is your camp?" she asked urgently.

"It's a couple of miles north of here, in the woods. It's pretty out of view from the main road," Randall said worried for his life.

"I'm going there," Melanie said firmly as she stalked out of the cell leaving a bloody Randall behind and looked around for her gun, before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Ya can't go there, Mel, its suicide!" Daryl said as he looked at her, wondering where this sudden boost of bravery had come from. "Even with a group of us, they have rocket launchers for Christ's sake! We wouldn't stand a chance. Besides, we don't even know the people."

"I do!" Melanie snapped, as she put her knife and her gun into her belt. "You can't stop me Daryl, whether I have to go by myself or not. Lee and the rest of those people are my friends!"

Daryl looked at her for a moment and suddenly nodded in agreement, she was right he'd do the same if it was or the others.

"Alright, but we're telling the others, ok?" He told her and she gave him a grateful smile of thanks and something else.

"Thank you."

They walked through to where Rick and the others were seated, looking at them anxiously. "So?"

"They have some of my friends at that camp," Melanie explained quickly, not wanting to waste any time if Lee and the rest of the group were in danger. "And I'm going to get them back. Can I take one of the cars?" she asked Rick.

"Of course and be careful, alright." He said as they followed them both outside to the yard where they got into a black SUV.

"We will, we'll see ya'll soon." Daryl said as they drove off.

* * *

"Wanna tell me who these people are then?" Daryl asked as he looked at Melanie. Her hands were gripping the steering wheel tightly, and her knuckles were white as she gripped it and drove as fast as she could. Whoever they were must have been damn well important, especially for her to risk her life like this for them.

"When I was on the road after I couldn't find you and Merle, I hid in this house when the outbreak started, and I didn't know what was going on," Mel said thinking back to that day where she had arrived at Clementine's house. "Found a little girl in a tree house, Clementine. Then this guy turned up, Lee. The three of us left the house and started travelling. On the way we met Kenny and Katjaa, and their son Duck. We ended up in this little village, in a pharmacy that belonged to Lee's mother and father. There we found Doug, Carley, Lilly, Larry and Mark. They started travelling with us, and eventually we found this dairy farm, run by Brenda St. John, and her two sons, Andy and Dan. They let us stay with them. We were quite safe there until bandits kicked us off the land, which we later found out, was Brian. I got separated from them, and ended up alone, and that was when I found you guys again."

Daryl nodded. "Were ya close to them?"

"I was, yes they're good people and I owe them my life for how they saved me. When we were in a store, Mark gave me the scythe and told me to use it; the sword's saved my life a lot of times since this happened." She said as they pulled up outside the woods and got out.

"There's a camp fire." He said as they hurried into the woods.

Melanie nodded, hoping everyone was alright. "I see it, let's go," she said as she grabbed her knife and headed towards where the smoke was coming from, with Daryl straight behind her. They tried to be as quiet as possible, not wanting to attract any attention to themselves, so they could make this as easy as possible. When they got there, they saw three men sitting around the fire. "The rest of the group must be out somewhere," Melanie observed, as she checked they weren't anywhere else. "Let's get rid of them, get Lee and everyone else and go."

Daryl nodded and they began to fire at the men who jumped up in surprise at being attacked by people they couldn't see, soon the four men were dead and Melanie heard mooing and realised it was Maybelle as she looked at the trailer holding her.

"MELANIE!" Carly cried along with the others as Daryl helped them out of their bounds.

"Carly!" Melanie smiled happily, happy to see that her friends were all alright. They looked a little tired and frail, but they were uninjured. She pulled Carly into her and hugged her tightly. "We're here to get you out of here, we have somewhere safe for you to go." she said softly, as it started to get dark. "We need to go now, before nightfall."

They all nodded and looked at Daryl warily, but didn't say anything, as the two of them helped them into the car. "We don't have much room here, some of ya are gonna need to go into the trailer with the cow," Daryl said, as he nodded to where the cow was.

"Her name is Maybelle, Daryl," Melanie said, as Lee, Mark, Doug, Kenny, Andy, Dan and Larry all got into the trailer, while the women and the kids squeezed into the car. "Let's get out of here."

He nodded and before he could stop himself, he kissed with all the positive emotions he had towards her.

Melanie was surprised but happy at the same time and kissed him back, her hands cradling his face in her hands.

"I'm so fuckin proud of yer."

"Who's this?" Carly asked grinning at the pair of them.

"This is Daryl," Melanie said softly, as the two of them climbed into the front of the car and drove back to the prison with the trailer on behind them.

"Daryl? The Daryl?" Carly said recognizing the name from the nights the two of them would spend on watch and chat about everything from their old lives, just to pass the time and make themselves feel better. "The one you used to talk about all the time? You found him?"

"Ya talked about me?" Daryl asked smirking. He felt his heart flutter a little. The whole time they had been separated and she hadn't forgotten about him or moved onto someone else. "It was good, I hope?"

"Of course it was, Daryl." Melanie said smiling as they drove back to the prison with Carl in the back with Katjaa, Duck and Clementine.

"So what happened after we got separated?" She asked Carly.

"We ended up back on the road for a while," Carly said quietly, thinking back to after the attack on the dairy farm. "We went back to that motel we stayed at when you were with us, but it was swarmed with walkers. We were ambushed on the road one day and captured by that group that was holding us hostage," she explained.

"Shit, I'm so sorry Carly." Melanie said as they neared the prison.

"What about you?" Carly asked softly.

"After I got separated from you guys, I found Daryl at the prison and found my uncle and my two cousins. But then we all found that my dad was the brother of the Governor, two of the group called Michonne and Drake attacked me and Drake raped me." She explained quietly.

"Oh shit," Carly gasped horrified, feeling awful about what had happened to her friend, and she hadn't been around to comfort her.

"It's alright," Melanie said softly, as she gave her a small smile. "It's in the past now, he can't hurt me anymore."

Carly smiled at her gently, "So you and Daryl are couple?" She asked intrigued.

"In a way, yeah I'm his woman and he's my man." She said smiling and Daryl took her hand in his as they pulled up outside the prison.

Rick and the others hurried out to greet them, and they all looked shocked that Daryl and Melanie had come back in one piece, along with the members of the group. "You did it!" Merle said shocked, but with a smile, as he hugged Melanie.

"What's the matter Merle, you think we wouldn't?" she asked grinning.

"Hell no, I knew ya two would come back." He said hugging Daryl next as Oscar and Morgan stared at Lee in shock.

"Lee?"

"Morgan, Oscar?"

Lee ran forward and hugged them both, as they smiled happily. "I found my brothers!" Lee said happily as he grinned at Melanie and hugged her tightly, "Thank you for getting me here."

Melanie chuckled and hugged him back. "The pleasure's all mine. I missed you guys."

"We missed you too." He said warmly and smiled at Daryl who smiled back as they all headed inside when Rick spoke.

"Why don't you all go shower and have something to eat?" He suggested kindly.

"That sounds good," Lee said, loving the idea of a shower and some food, luxuries they had missed for a month or so now after they had been driven off the farm. "It's going to be nice to have a proper meal and a bed to sleep in tonight."

"I'm going to go shower too," Melanie said softly as she followed her friends, still with Randall's blood on her arms.

* * *

They all nodded and went their separate ways when Melanie paused and walked over to where Daryl was.

"Want to share with me?" She asked softly.

Daryl swallowed. He knew exactly what would happen if he shared the shower with her, if he seen the water fall over her naked body. He knew exactly how his body would react, and he didn't want her to notice and feel pressurized. "Um... maybe another time, sweetheart," he stuttered, trying to come up with an excuse. "I uh... I promised Merle that I would help him with the squirrels that we caught earlier."

"Oh... Alright," Melanie said quietly, as she left and went to the shower room.

He watched her go and swore softly under his breath as he hurried after into the shower room where the others had already finished and watched as Melanie took off her sweater.


End file.
